NYC health officials advise kinky Zoom parties, masks during sex amid COVID-19
They’re still working out the kinks.
City health officials suggest New Yorkers kiss boring bedroom behavior goodbye — but not each other — in an updated guide on how to practice extra-safe sex during the coronavirus pandemic.
But before getting frisky, everyone should slip on a different type of protection — a face mask.
“During COVID-19 wearing a face covering that covers your nose and mouth is a good way to add a layer of protection during sex,” according to the agency, which this week announced free home delivery of condoms, lube and HIV self-test kits. “Maybe it’s your thing, maybe it’s not.”
And while the agency does not outright recommend casual sex, for those who live a more adventurous lifestyle the advisory says, “Make it a little kinky. Be creative with sexual positions and physical barriers, like walls, that allow sexual contact while preventing close face to face contact.”
The advisory, issued Monday, is an expansion of one released in March, which warned against in-person dates and locking lips in lockdown.
The March guide urged New Yorkers to emphasize the “self” in self-isolation — encouraging masturbation as the safest type of sex.
That’s still the case, with officials suggesting heading online to get off.
“Video dates, sexting, subscription-based fan platforms, sexy ‘Zoom parties’ or chat rooms may be options for you,” according to the guide.
For those who find social distancing a turnoff, officials advise choosing large, open and “well-ventilated spaces” for group sex, and bringing along alcohol-based hand sanitizer — probably sound advice even pre-pandemic.
In the March guidance, the agency called out “rim jobs” as particularly dangerous — and swiftly became the butt of Twitter jokes.
Health officials continue to pooh-pooh the practice.
The new guide also includes a warning about testing positive for coronavirus antibodies — as well as advice on preventing sexually transmitted infections, HIV and unplanned pregnancy.
“Be cautious in using these tests to make decisions about who you have sex with and what kind of sex you have since antibody test results are not definite proof of immunity,” according to the advisory.
While traces of COVID-19 have been found in semen and feces, it remains unclear if it can be transmitted sexually, the Health Department said, while noting that other strains of coronavirus can’t easily spread in bed.
Despite its three-page list of dos and don’ts — many of them decidedly libido-killing — the Health Department stressed that the plague in the streets shouldn’t keep New Yorkers from having fun in the sheets.
“Decisions about sex and sexuality need to be balanced with personal and public health,” the advisory read. “During this extended public health emergency, people will and should have sex.
