- New York City produced an incredibly explicit document detailing best-practices for sex during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
- The guidelines say that you are your “safest sex partner” during the health crisis, and explains other things to keep in mind while you’re adjusting your sex life.
- The document provides other information about the COVID-19 infection, and also addresses sex workers and sexually transmitted diseases.
- Visit BGR’s homepage for more stories.
COVID-19 is not a sexually transmitted disease, which means you can’t contract it while having sex with someone else. However, having sex implies that you are failing to social distance, unless it’s with a partner that you already happen to be living with. In order to stress this point, New York City has gone as far as to explain that you are in fact your best sex partner in one of the most explicit coronavirus-related sex documents you’ll ever see.
The document goes through various scenarios and describes the risks of having sex during the pandemic.
“You are your safest sex partner,” the document says in a section titled “have sex with people close to you.” Things do take a weird twist rather fast: “Masturbation will not spread COVID-19, especially if you wash your hands (and any sex toys) with soap and water for at least 20 seconds before and after sex.”
If you must have sex with a different partner, “the next safest partner is someone you live with,” the document reads. “Having close contact — including sex — with only a small circle of people helps prevent spreading COVID-19,” the guidelines read, warning people to have sex only with consenting partners.
If a person of the household goes out to buy supplies, everyone at home can be exposed to an infection, that’s why it’s essential to wash your hands often, sanitize surfaces and keep common areas clean. If one person is infected inside the home, then everyone else is at risk. Recent data suggests that even talking might be enough to spread micro-droplets that can contain the virus. In other words, you might be infected well before you decide on whether to have sex or not during the outbreak. Sex with your significant other should be safe, as long as both of you are healthy.
If droplets are what spreads the virus, then it should go without saying that kissing and any sort of saliva exchange will help spread the virus, and the guideline makes a note of that.
The document says that if your partner isn’t feeling well, you should not have sex. That seems like unnecessary advice. Sex is probably the last thing on the mind of a person experiencing flu-like symptoms, including fever, cough, and fatigue. Monica and Chandler aren’t real people — sorry to break it to you.
One other aspect the document addresses is sexual conduct for sex workers. People who make a living by having sex should take a break from in-person dates and consider moving to video dates, sexting, or chat rooms, according to New York officials. Conversely, customers should also refrain from seeking out sex workers.
Also useful in this highly unusual document for the COVID-19 health crisis is the reminder that STDs are still a thing, and you should be using condoms. Condoms are also effective for birth control, the document helpfully reminds us.
