The medical director at the UK’s leading HIV charity, Terrence Higgins Trust has said people need to stop hooking up during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Doctor Michael Brady, the medical director at THT has warned that people need to stop meeting for sex and look for other ways to “find sexual pleasure in other ways”.
In a post published on the THT website, the Doctor said,
“I’ve never been an advocate of promoting abstinence, but this message is not about protecting your sexual health: it’s about protecting your general health and those around you from a virus that can be deadly. This is extraordinary and unprecedented advice for us to be giving out, but these are extraordinary and unprecedented times.”
Lockdown and Hooking Up
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Boris Johnson outlined new, stricter rules about leaving our homes during the Covid-19 outbreak. These were:
- Only go outside for food, health reasons or work (where this absolutely cannot be done from home)
- Stay 2 metres (6ft) away from other people
- Wash your hands as soon as you get home
With the country under stricter rules surrounding lockdown, Dr Brady says we shouldn’t be having sex with anyone outside our current households.
He added,
“This advice means that, unless you have sex with someone within your household, it’s important to find sexual pleasure in other ways. Despite the situation with COVID-19, we need to remember that sex is an important part of life, but right now we have to find other ways to achieve sexual pleasure and satisfaction.
He continued,
“It’s only natural that we look to sex for pleasure, to relieve stress and anxiety or simply to pass the time – whether that’s with a regular partner or using hook-up apps. But our ‘new normal’ is that we have to find ways to do this while sticking to the advice to stay at home. This isn’t just to protect ourselves against the coronavirus but also to protect the most vulnerable in our society.
“You are your safest sexual partner”
Dr Brady finished up by adding that during this time, that instead of seeking sexual contact with other people, take we take matters in our own hands.
He said,
“I never thought I’d say this but the reality is that, for the time being, you are your safest sexual partner. It’s time to stay at home, stop close contact with people outside our household and to be creative about how we manage our sex lives”.
