WHO Official Says People Should Go Cashless Because Banknotes Can Pick up Coronavirus

A money changer counts U.S. dollar bills, with Turkish lira banknotes in the background, at an currency exchange office in central Istanbul, Turkey, on Aug. 21, 2015. Reuters/Murad Sezer

Banknotes might be spreading the COVID-19 coronavirus so people should try to use contactless payments instead, an official with the World Health Organization (WHO) said.

People should wash their hands after touching paper currency and coins because the virus might cling to the surface for several days, an official with the U.N. agency told The Daily Telegraph. But they urged that people should use contactless technology when it’s possible.