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Coronavirus

Merchants shun cash as coronavirus infection fears widen

Global health crisis speeds up cashless payments in Asia

While avoiding using cash may reduce personal contact, there is no evidence that banknotes or coins carry disease.   © Reuters

HONG KONG -- Retail traders across Australia and parts of Asia are increasingly refusing to handle cash amid fears that bank notes and coins could transmit the coronavirus.

At a FoodWorks supermarket in the Melbourne suburb of East Ivanhoe on Tuesday, no cash payments were being accepted.

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