ECB: Small risk of coronavirus infection through banknotes

The European Central Bank (ECB) has announced that the risk of coronavirus infection from handling banknotes is small compared to other surfaces.

To ensure that handling cash remains as safe as possible, the ECB is working closely with top-tier European laboratories to assess the behavior of coronaviruses on different surfaces. The results indicate that coronaviruses can survive more easily on a stainless steel surface (e.g. door handles) than on our cotton banknotes, with survival rates approximately 10 to 100 times higher in the first few hours after contamination, said Fabio Panetta, Member of the Executive Board of the ECB.

– Other analyses indicate that it is much more difficult for a virus to be transferred from porous surfaces such as cotton banknotes than from smooth surfaces like plastic – said Panetta.

His conclusion is that “banknotes do not represent a particularly significant risk of infection compared with other kinds of surface that people come into contact with in daily life.”

Panetta does not mention what the risk is when it comes to coins, made of several types of metal, including steel and zinc.

The Central Bank of China announced back in February that it would use UV radiation to disinfect banknotes.

European Central Bank

coronavirus

banknotes

Central Bank of China