A realistic touch-transfer method reveals low risk of transmission for SARS-CoV-2 by contaminated coins and bank notes

Abstract

The current severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has created a significant threat to global health. While respiratory aerosols or droplets are considered as the main route of human-to-human transmission, secretions expelled by infected individuals can also contaminate surfaces and objects, potentially creating the risk of fomite-based transmission. Consequently, frequently touched objects such as paper currency and coins have been suspected as a potential transmission vehicle. To assess the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission by banknotes and coins, we examined the stability of SARS-CoV-2 and bovine coronavirus (BCoV), as surrogate with lower biosafety restrictions, on these different means of payment and developed a touch transfer method to examine transfer efficiency from contaminated surfaces to skin. Although we observed prolonged virus stability, our results, including a novel touch transfer method, indicate that the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 via contaminated coins and banknotes is unlikely and requires high viral loads and a timely order of specific events.

Catch Me (If You Can): Assessing the Risk of SARS-CoV-2 Transmission Via Euro Cash

“…A significant part of this ECB research work was conducted in cooperation with the Ruhr University Bochum in Germany. A first publication on the novel transferability method applied to SARS-CoV-2 (Todt et al, 2021) was released in April 2021 as a preprint including some of the results that are also presented in this paper.…”