Coronavirus: WHO urge people to wash hands after handling cash, ask to switch to contactless payments
Washing your hands regularly, staying a meter away from anyone with a cough, or a fever, wearing a mask, and avoiding touching your face - the list of what to do to avoid getting the coronavirus is long and WHO officials have added one more to the list - stop using cash; go paperless.
The World Health Organization has claimed that banknotes might be spreading Covid-19 and WHO officials claim that the public should switch to contactless forms of payment instead, including credit and debit cards or even better, wireless money transfers.
According to the Telegraph, a WHO spokesperson said that "Customers should wash their hands after touching banknotes because infectious Covid-19 may cling to the surface for a number of days," adding that people should switch to contactless payment wherever possible.
The coronavirus has been spreading rapidly on a global scale, and scientists are warning people to avoid touching public surfaces like doors, walls, counters, and now currency notes. The virus can remain on the surface for several days, which is why scientists are reminding people to wash their hands and use sanitizer after touching surfaces in order to keep the virus contained. It is also constantly being stressed that people should not be touching their face.
The World Health Organization has also issued a 15-minute coronavirus kit that tests for the presence of the virus in a person, which is being used in China, Italy and Japan, but not the US or the UK, as officials have not yet approved of the test yet. This lack of approval for the WHO-sanctioned test kit has drawn much criticism from the public at large.
The US Government, in particular, has been harshly criticized for its handling of the coronavirus, as travelers entering the US claim that they're allowed into the country with little to no screening, according to the Daily Mail, being asked only if they had recently been to China.