Covid-19 through using banknotes is low, according to research by the Bank of England that suggests the aversion to using cash during the pandemic is unnecessary.The central bank considered a plausible worst-case scenario of an infected person coughing or sneezing onto a note and found that the level of virus on the surface began to drop rapidly after an hour.
After six hours, it had declined to 5% or less.The chances of such direct contamination occurring is relatively low as cash is typically stored securely in tills or wallets, the study found.
An infected person touching notes would result in far lower levels of the virus.Even so, the pandemic is likely to result in lasting shifts in consumer behavior.