Covid cashless move is pointless, as handling ‘filthy lucre’ does not spread virus

Cash is unlikely to spread coronavirus, researchers have concluded, despite many companies moving to card payments during the pandemic.

Cashless transactions have hugely increased in the past 18 months, with many businesses refusing to accept notes and coins for fear it would transmit the virus.

A recent poll conducted by MasterCard found 82 per cent of its users believed contactless payments were more hygienic than cash.

However, a new study from the European Central Bank and Ruhr University Bochum found infectious transmission was unlikely, even when the virus was present on coins and notes.

The team contaminated banknotes and coins with harmless coronaviruses and also with Sars-Cov-2, then asked test subjects to touch the surfaces with their fingertips, or, in the case of Sars-Cov-2, with artificial skin.

The viruses on the skin were then introduced to cell cultures, to see if the particles were infectious enough to replicate.

“We saw that immediately after the liquid had dried, there was practically no transmission of infectious virus,” said Dr Daniel Todt. “Under realistic conditions, infection with Sars-Cov-2 from cash is very unlikely.”

Transmission did not occur even though the virus was still detectable on the surface of notes and coins for several days. On the 10 Euro banknote, coronavirus took three days to completely disappear, while for one Euro coins the virus was gone after 48 hours.

Copper coins were the most effective, taking just one hour to kill off the virus.

The scientists said the results backed up findings that show in the vast majority of cases, infection occurs via aerosols or droplets.

“We assume that other variants, such as the currently predominant delta variant, also behave similarly,” added Prof Eike Steinmann, head of the department for Molecular and Medical Virology at Ruhr University. “The shelf life of the virus variants studied so far has not differed from that of the original virus.”

The study has been published in the journal iScience.