New Coronavirus Health Crisis – Separating Fact from Fiction

Panic reactions are happening across the world as the new Coronavirus, for which there isn’t yet human immunity, spreads. We are seeing emptier supermarket shelves, an extremely volatile stock market, cancelled events and flights and many other signs of fear spreading even faster than the virus itself.

The medical consensus is that this virus is transmitted through respiratory droplets, primarily when infected persons sneeze, or cough, and the viral droplets then hook onto mucous or saliva of another person to gain a foothold in their cells so the virus can reproduce in that new host body.

The best advice is to regularly sanitise hands and disinfect surfaces, which may have been contaminated by viral droplets, while avoiding, as far as possible, touching one’s nose, eyes or mouth. We know that in close contact with an infected person, such as when shaking hands, or when we touch a doorknob, tabletop or surface previously touched by an infected person, we run a risk of catching the virus.

Since people don’t usually sneeze or cough into their banknotes, and since we all touch dozens of surfaces every day, it is disingenuous to single out cashMoney in physical form such as banknotes and coins. More as a medium of transmission of the virus. Handling cards, mobile devices and touching keypads in public places, not to mention countless other surfaces, can carry an equal risk. What is important is frequent hand sanitising to kill off any viral droplets, given that the virus has a fragile envelope surrounding it which can be readily destroyed through disinfectants.

Professor Raina MacIntyre, the head of the biosecurity programme at the Kirby Institute at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, supporting the idea that airborne respiratory droplets would be the most common means of transmission for the new corona virus, highlights the fact that the range of objects which can cause an infection when they have a residue of the viral droplets on them would be so broad that to remove all potential sources of infection is simply impossible.

“Like every other object in the universe, physical moneyFrom the Latin word moneta, nickname that was given by Romans to the goddess Juno because there was a minting workshop next to her temple. Money is any item that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular region, country or socio-economic context. Its onset dates back to the origins of humanity and its physical representation has taken on very varied forms until the appearance of metal coins. The banknote, a typical representati... More has its surfaces,” said Mike Lee, CEO of ATMIA and President of the ATM Security Association. “The scapegoating of cash by some agencies and media is an irresponsible piece of pseudo-science, or bias, because it can distract citizens from the risks of infection on all other surfaces of their daily lives. Let’s all grow up and not arbitrarily insert into this health crisis the phoney old war on cashThe expression refers to various policies by governments and campaigns run by other stakeholders, including providers of alternative payment instruments, aimed at reducing or at abolishing the use of cash altogether. This includes for instance the withdrawal of high‐denomination banknotes or restrictions on cash transactions as well as spreading misinformation on the usage and properties of cash. More. It’s not exactly an edifying spectacle to see an epidemic being exploited in this manner.”

ATMIA urges all members and all companies in the industry to take the necessary precautions, especially in terms of regular hand and surface disinfection, but to continue life and business as normal as far as humanly possible.

“This epidemic will surely peak at some time, and then recede, and panic serves no rational purpose,” Lee concluded. “Cash is a vital social service for billions in everyday life, but it’s even more important when there’s a crisis.”