Covid-19: What’s love got to do with it?

As countries from Asia to Europe, Africa and the Americas go into lockdown and encourage social distancing as a preventative measure against the spread of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, myriad safety concerns abound.

Among these are questions ranging from how much toilet paper and hand sanitiser to buy (enough, but don’t go insane), to whether latex gloves and masks actually work (yes, but only for a short time), and whether public transport is safe (it’s not), and can my cat or dog infect me (they can’t).

Now, amid the frantic scurry for answers, people are also asking whether it is safe to have sex or continue hooking up on dating apps, even as public events and gatherings of 100 people or more are banned in South Africa.

A basic search across some of the more popular dating apps and sites shows that, although not as popular as loo paper or hand sanitiser, it’s business as usual when it comes to that other basic human need – sex. However, said apps and sites are issuing warnings to their subscribers.

Grindr, a popular gay dating and hook-up app, has since last Thursday posted a warning to its users to “listen to your body and stay home”. But is this enough, and what about couples in long-term relationships?

An article in British daily newspaper The Guardian raises similar concerns around sexual intimacy and goes as far as to get medical experts to weigh in.

When it came to the concern of whether the virus is sexually transmissible, Professor Jessica Justman, of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Columbia University, said: “We’re not seeing patterns that indicate sexual transmission. It’s primarily spread through respiratory droplets. And touching contaminated surfaces is thought to be the secondary mode of transmission.”

She did, however, warn that if an individual or their partner tested positive for Covid-19, the best course of action was to steer clear of each other as much as possible.

But with dating apps not really showing a decline in membership numbers or activity, the question remains: what about new partners?

A professor at George Washington University’s Milken Institute School of Public Health, says there is no evidence that the Covid-19 can be transmitted via either vaginal or anal intercourse.

Dr Carlos Rodríguez-Díaz told The Guardian: “However, kissing is a very common practice during sexual intercourse, and the virus can be transmitted via saliva. There is also evidence of oral-faecal transmission of the Covid-19 and that implies that analingus may represent a risk for infection.”

Although the various safety guidelines do make sex a challenge, he says other forms of expressing eroticism, such as sexting, video calls, reading erotica and masturbation will continue to be safer options.

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to place strain on every aspect of our daily lives, including dating and sex, some people are adapting faster than others.

Brittany Potter, a 26-year-old New Yorker with a somewhat busy dating lifestyle, is a prime example of someone who’s changing with the times.

She told Insider that the coronavirus outbreak had decreased the number of dates she’d typically go on at bars in a given week.

“I’ve been single for the last two years and I go on dates pretty regularly, probably once a week, maybe twice a week.”

However, in light of the current health crisis, Potter says she’s taking extra precautions because she has asthma and is immunocompromised – at higher risk of serious infection.

She said that, going forward, she’ll likely limit herself to FaceTime dates to play things safe.

Just last week, a guy on a dating app Potter subscribes to asked if she wanted to “quarantine and chill” by coming over to his apartment for wine, pizza, and a movie. Although she followed through on his offer, she admits it was a move she now thinks was not such a good idea.

“I am glad that we didn’t go to a public place or a bar or anything, but there definitely is a sense of like, ‘Oh, I kind of wish that I would have just stayed home and not gone out,’” she said.

She said some of her matches were increasingly suggesting an initial FaceTime date and, if they got along, they could plan an in-person date when it was safe again.

For the time being, Potter said she was engaging in FaceTime with her “friend-with-benefits”.

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