When you stop to think about it there are many, many hands and places that cash comes in contact with on a daily basis. And yes, the experts tell us what some of us might expect, diseases and viruses such as COVID-19 can be transmittable through, fomites: surfaces that have been handled by an infected person.
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"Viruses will survive and there are viruses, in general, survive on surfaces different amounts of time," said Dr. Jonathan Stallkamp of Main Line Health.
And that would include a porous surface, such as cash.
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"No I was not aware of that," said Esmeralda Jean Baptiste of Southwest Philadelphia.
"I mean it's already got me paranoid out here. I'm in here getting hand sanitizers and bleach, but I don't know maybe I gotta wear gloves, plastic gloves," said Sheree Marshall of West Philadelphia.
"Just makes me wanna use a debit card or credit card," said Mark Wheeler of Upper Darby.
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It is why medical experts are urging people to take precautions.
"Money is always a concern. Hand washing is the most important thing after you handle money. Wash your hands," said Dr. Stallkamp.
"I say definitely tell people to wash their hands a lot, use hand sanitizer whenever you can, cover your mouth," said Vincent Anderson of West Philadelphia.
Of course, being cash-free won't work for everyone. Not everyone has a bank account, so some people need to pay with cash. The advice then is this: no matter what, if you've touched something, don't touch your face, eyes, nose or mouth, and wash your hands.
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