A recent study suggests that you most definitely do not want to put your money where your mouth is, especially now, as it found that bank notes can carry COVID-19 particles for up to nine days, depending on temperature, according to Bloomberg. The Australian study tested the virus's lifespan on various surfaces, including paper money. The nine-day figure assumes a temperature of about 20 degrees Celsius, or 68 degrees farenheit. At 30 degrees Celsius, or 86 degrees Farenheit, virus particles last about four days. If the money is 40 degrees Celsius, ot 104 degrees Farenheit, the virus lasts about five hours.

The study tested virus endurance on several different types of surfaces and found that all of them can carry virus particles for hours, if they're in a hot environment, or even days in cooler ones. For example, on glass, the type that might be used for a touch screen, the virus can last between six hours to six days, depending on temperature; on plastic, the type that might be used for new-style bank notes, that range is four hours to almost seven days, once again depending on how hot it is.

Bloomberg noted that while scientists have learned that COVID-19 transmission is mainly person-to-person via exhaled virus particles, surface transmission remains a factor that could further contribute to the pandemic's spread. The report underscores the importance of maintaining clean surfaces and washing one's hands.