Does Taking a Fingerprint and Using a Stamp Increase the Risk of Covid-19?

With the spread of the corona virus all over the world, the common trends in many of the daily activities of people have changed and been challenged. One of these processes, which is done millions of times a day in offices, is the use of fingerprints. In some cases, it is possible not to use this method by using alternative methods, but sometimes it is irreplaceable due to some reasons. Now the question arises, what is the probability and risk of transmission of Covid-19 disease through stamp and fingerprint and what are the ways to reduce this possibility?

With the advancement of technology, the use of fingerprint scanning has replaced ink and stamp, but the problem is that in both cases, the person needs to place his/her finger on a contact surface, and touching this surfaces increases the risk of transmission of Covid-19. According to some published articles, the use of these methods has been discussed and questioned by researchers even before the COVID-19 pandemic since contact surfaces are basically the source of many contaminants. That is why many health specialists oppose this method of authentication.

In the case of Covid-19, the use of stamps or any other fingerprinting tool for authentication also appears to increase the risk of transmitting the corona virus to other people. Therefore, it is recommended to use other methods of authentication (such as face, eye, etc.) as much as possible during the COVID-19 period.

To reduce the risk of transmission through these surfaces, the following recommendations are made:

• Replacing fingerprint authentication methods with non-contact methods in offices and organizations (as much as possible)
• Sanitizing the fingerprint biometric scanners regularly and properly
• Making alcohol available to customers for hand disinfection, and asking them to use alcohol before and after each use of a fingerprint stamp pad or fingerprint scanner
• Washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds immediately after contact with these surfaces
• If you do not have access to soap and water, bring alcohol with you to disinfect your hands after touching these surfaces.

Although the use of alcohol to disinfect hands before and after fingerprinting is recommended, the top recommendation is to use non-contact biometric identification and authentication methods as much as possible.