Fan Yifei, Deputy Chairman of the People’s Bank, China’s Central Bank, announced on February 15, that commercial banks, after receiving money bills from customers, must disinfect the bills before re-circulating them and giving them back to customers. In regions that have severe novel coronavirus infections, bills must go through ultraviolet ray or high temperature treatment. Then they must be stored for 14 days before re-circulating them back to market. In regions with light infections, bills need to be disinfected and then stored for a week.
Guangzhou has gone one step further. It destroys bills received from hospitals, farmer’s markets, and the public transit system.
Excerpt in Chinese:
为阻止新型冠状病毒的传播，中国央行要求对现金进行消毒和存放，还有报道称有些银行甚至销毁了部分现金。
中国人民银行副行长范一飞在周六的新闻发布会上说，商业银行收取的现金必须经过消毒后才能释放给客户。他还表示，从医院和食品市场收取的现金必须分开处理并进行消毒，交存人民银行，不得对外支付。在疫情严重的地区，收取的现金必须经过紫外线或高温消毒，存放14天后才能重新投放市场。在受影响较小的地区，使用前必须对现金进行消毒并存放一周。
报道称，根据国有媒体南方报业的一则报道，中国人民银行广州分行甚至正在销毁来自医院、农贸市场和公交行业的现金。
Source: Radio France International, February 16, 2020
http://www.rfi.fr/cn/中国/20200216-新冠肺炎-中国下令对银行回笼现金-洗钱