The SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes the coronavirus disease, is not spread via cash, say medical experts.
According to recent studies, claims that using cash can increase your chance of picking up the virus are fakenews - there is no evidence to date that supports this. Investigations into this virus are still being conducted, but the reports below support the following key messages:
- Cash is safe to use (in times of coronavirus);
- Coronavirus is spreading via cough droplets, not from using publicly handled things (doors, cash, etc);
- The virus does not live long on dry surfaces, and has a particularly short lifetime on cash; and
- Coins are very bad environments for viruses to survive.
The probability of picking up any virus from cash is actually very low compared with other surfaces. Both medical experts and central bank the world over have been emphasizing that "cash is safe to use" (even in times of corona). "To date, there is no evidence of the coronavirus having been spread via euro banknotes – and, if it had, the numbers of infection would be way higher," says Head of the Health Department in Frankfurt, Germany.
