We often talk about doorknobs and metro bars when it comes to remembering the precautionary gestures against infectious diseases. Sometimes even forgetting another object that millions of people touch every day: banknotes and coins.
The Chinese Central Bank chose this Saturday to clean up this means of payment in order to limit the spread of the coronavirus (2019-nCoV). So, is it simply a display measure to wash away questionable crisis management? Or essential health decision? We take stock, while the epidemic has exceeded 1,500 dead and made its first victim outside Asia, in Paris.
What does this measure consist of?
Banks domiciled in China are asked to isolate the cash already put into circulation and to pass it under ultraviolet rays or under high temperatures. Then, these tickets are sealed for seven or fourteen days, depending on the level of contamination in the area.
To compensate for this quarantine, more than four billion yuan of new banknotes were injected into distributors in Hubei province. Ticket transfers between provinces have also been suspended.
Is this a first?
On this scale, it would seem so. We have not listed in recent history other similar devices to protect against an infectious disease.
Note, however, that these currency cleaning techniques have been documented for decades. In a 1896 US Navy archive, a surgeon recommended, for example, placing formalin blotters between bundles of banknotes. At the time, it was to counter smallpox.
Many studies have since proven to what extent banknotes, but also coins, are transmission vectors. From staphylococcus to escherichia coli via hepatitis and of course the flu. In 2007, a study by researchers at the Geneva hospital recalled that cuts could keep flu germs for almost 17 days. This does not mean, however, that the dose that has survived is enough to infect someone, far from it.
Was this decision necessary in China?
Difficult to say. According to Professor Antoine Flahault, who quotes the study of his Swiss colleagues, the measure of the Chinese authorities "is original but understandable". Reached by the Parisian, he wants proof that the new coronavirus, like the flu virus, "is transmitted by droplets of naos-pharyngeal secretions (nose and throat, Editor's note) and perhaps also by oro-fecal transmission in associated diarrhea ”.
However, if we refer to the World Health Organization, the risk of transmission of the new coronavirus via banknotes and coins is "very low". "Preliminary data indicates that the new coronavirus (2019-nCoV) can survive on surfaces for a few hours or more," says WHO on its website. "The best protection is to wash your hands frequently with a hydroalcoholic product or with soap and water," she advises.
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In addition to this health update, there is a cultural observation. Cash is no longer on the streets in China. Mobile payments have been ubiquitous for years, with most Chinese consumers using their smartphones to make everyday purchases. In a survey carried out in 2017, three quarters of those polled claimed to spend more than a month with only 100 yuan (13.20 euros) in cash.
In short, the Chinese authorities here seem to have also (above all?) Responded to the concerns of their constituents. Whether founded or not. It was undoubtedly also a question of reassuring the citizens, while accusations of censorship and intimidation are increasing against Beijing.