Like any surface, bills and coins can become a vehicle for the transmission of the coronavirus. But is it really dangerous to use cash?
A team of researchers from the Ruhr University of Bochum, in Germany, developed an unusual method to see how long virus particles are able to survive on the surfaces of coins and banknotes.
For this, they first placed several drops of an infected solution of the alpha variant of SARS-CoV-2 on top. Then, they touched the money with a piece of artificial skin and calculated the amount of virus particles that ended up on its surface.
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“We saw that immediately after the liquid dried, there was practically no transmission of the infectious virus,” explains the study’s lead author, Daniel Todt.
The researcher points out that “in realistic circumstances, the contagion of SARS-CoV-2 through cash is very unlikely“, especially considering that the particles are not present in such a concentration in real life. For contagion to occur, the virus must be in its active form, while the person who came into contact with the contaminated surface must touch their eyes, nose, or mouth with dirty hands.
The scientists also examined how long the coronavirus survives on the surfaces of banknotes and coins. They concluded that the virus survived on stainless steel coins for seven days, but only survived for three days on the surface of a Euro 10 note. As for the 10 cent, 1 euro and 5 cent coins, they contained the virus particles for six days, two days and only one hour, respectively.
“The rapid decline in the virus on the 5-cent coin is because it is made of copper, on the surface of which viruses are usually not very stable,” he says.
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