Coronavirus can be transmitted via payment terminal buttons and banknotes
Trying to understand how respiratory viruses such as coronaviruses spread at airports, Finnish researchers in 2018 collected surface and air samples at a major airport and tested them for viruses. They took ninety swab samples from frequently touched surfaces such as handrails, luggage trays at the security check area, toilet flushing buttons and doorknobs. Most surfaces did not have any viruses, and even all 14 samples from the airport toilets came out sparkling clean. However, there was one surface testing positive for both rhinovirus and a coronavirus: the buttons of the payment terminal at the pharmacy. Business owners should help their customers avoid both bacterial and viral infections.

|
GP reveals you should be disinfecting your bank card once a week because it could be contaminated from previous users all touching the same reader amid coronavirus outbreak
Dr Chike concluded: 'This suggests the virus could live on credit cards anything from hours to days.
'The bacterial bugs commonly found on cards include staphylococcus aureus, the cause of staph (skin) infections, salmonella enterica and E.Coli, a common cause of food poisoning.
