Dirty Casino Chips Can Help Spread Coronavirus

Gaming properties are taking precautionary measures to minimize the health risk posed by Coronavirus. One of the measures currently in place is to clean and disinfect casino chips. 

In theory, this is a smart move, given the fact that chips can be found almost everywhere on the casino floor, and they are mostly touched by everyone. However, the size of players and dealers who touch the chips on a daily basis may make cleaning schedules inadequate to combat the spread of the virus. 

The risk is further highlighted by Amandine Gamble, a researcher at UCLA, and one of the scientists that revealed that Coronavirus could survive on particular surfaces for up to 3 days. 

“I think generally speaking it is indeed smart to disinfect casino chips frequently,” Gamble said. “Based on our results, infectious viruses may survive on inert surfaces for up to several days.”

But the disinfection process can only do so much given that lots o people come in contact with chips daily. 

“The efficiency of these approaches would depend on the frequency at which chips are disinfected or renewed,” Gamble explained. “I am not very familiar with casinos, but I assume that a given chip is likely to encounter several people in a few hours.

“This short-time transfer of chips might already give the opportunity to virus transmission, making measures such as chip disinfection or renewal once a day inefficient,” Gamble warned.

In their research, Gamble and other scientists found out that Coronavirus can survive on plastic and stainless steel for up to 72 hours. They also found out that it can survive on cardboard up to 24 hours. 

She further emphasized that the study can only predict the length o time the virus can survive on materials used in the test. In addition, survival o the virus is dependent on factors such as humidity and temperature of the room. 

“The more viruses were deposited on the chips, the longer viable viruses will be detected,” Gamble said. “It is … really difficult to predict for how long chips might be contaminated after contact with an infectious person.”

Housing The Virus

Apart from chips, paper money is another medium that can house the virus. Given the fact that most currencies in the world today are made out o cotton fiber paper, the virus can easily move from one person to another. 

In China, the central bank is working to disinfect its currency, thus limiting the chances that money could carry the virus. However, the US Federal Reserve has not taken any o such steps. 

“The Federal Reserve is in close contact with the … CDC [Centers for Disease Control] to ensure we are aware of the latest thinking on how COVID-19 spreads,” a spokesperson from the Fed said. “Currently, the CDC has determined that COVID-19 spreads mainly through person-to-person contact.”