While casual sex is not recommended in the era of COVID-19, sexual health physicians say since many people will likely seek it, guidance is needed on how to reduce its risks.
Associate Professor Edwina Wright, from the Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine, says as casual sex breaches social distancing, several organisations have advised against it.
But as the weeks of COVID-19 containment turn to months, some will probably begin having casual sex.
“So, it would be wise for governments and jurisdictions to start preparing guidance on harm minimisation to help avoid COVID-19 transmission during casual sex,” she says.
In late March, the society created a national taskforce of experts to respond to the impact of COVID-19 on HIV, viral hepatitis and other blood-borne viruses in Australia.
It is chaired by Professor Wright, who says sex with a regular partner, providing the partner is well and not in quarantine, is the safest approach. But she says there is no data yet on which aspects of intimate sex are safest.
“It will be very hard to determine the differential risk of acquiring COVID-19 during intimate sex because of the nature of how COVID-19 spreads.
“Any sex that involves kissing would increase the risk of being exposed to infected airway secretions, and a person may touch a surface contaminated by the virus during sex and acquire the infection that way.
“We do know that in patients with severe COVID-19 illness, a proportion may have faecal samples that remain positive for the presence of the virus RNA for several weeks after the respiratory samples have become negative for the virus.”
But she says more data is needed to determine if it is possible to acquire this viral infection via faecal-oral transmission. It remains an unconfirmed possibility.
On negotiating sex between someone with COVID-19 and someone without it, the sex would have to be virtual, she says. The person with the illness would have to self-isolate until advised by a public health officer they are no longer infectious.
Virtual sex might include things such as love letters, erotic letters, phone calls, FaceTiming, texts and Zoom. There are many options and humans are never short on ideas about sex.
For the first time in almost four decades, Thorne Harbour Health has advised against casual sex. Formerly the Victorian AIDS Council, it now also serves the health needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) communities.
Its website says while COVID-19 is not a sexually transmitted infection, the virus is transmitted during close sexual contact. It is looking at ways its community can stay sexy while limiting the risk of viral transmission.
The Australian Federation of AIDS Organisations says LGBTI and HIV organisations are encouraging their communities not to have casual sex at this time.
The Australian Sex Workers Association’s Red Book suggests its members take time off during COVID-19, if they can.
For those who can’t, it provides a highly detailed guide to risk reduction, from screening clients, to prepping their space, to what to avoid during the encounter.
Authored by Jill Margo. Connect with Jill on Twitter. Email Jill at jmargo@afr.com.au
