A Fed spokesperson told Reuters on Friday that "quarantining physical dollars that it repatriates from Asia before recirculating them in the US financial system" has begun. The new "precautionary measure" is to limit the transmission of the virus in the US.

The spokesperson said the Fed regional bank system, with 12 total branches across the country, will help manage money supply coming from Asia and quarantine dollars for upwards of ten days before recirculation.

There were no specifics of how the dollars would be sanitized. Bear in mind that even before the Covid-19 outbreaks, a 2014 study by researchers at New York University identified 3,000 types of bacteria on dollar bills due to how widely and frequently they change hands.

The World Health Organization (WHO) warned Monday that the virus could survive on banknotes, potentially spreading the virus within communities and across the world. To reduce the risk of being infected by money, the NGO advised citizens in countries struggling with outbreaks to favor digital payments when possible.