Canada’s chief Medical Officer, Dr Theresa Tam, has set out her sex advice for keeping people and their partners safe from the Covid-19 virus whilst having a healthy sex life.
She is very aware that ‘sexual health is an important part of our overall health’. But she warns: ‘[S]ex can be complicated in the time of Covid-19, especially for those without an intimate partner in their household or whose sexual partner is at higher risk.’
Dr Tam said that whilst, on the one hand, it doesn’t look as if the virus is spread through semen or vaginal fluids, there is greater risk of it being contracted through ‘close contact, like kissing’. Because of that she warns to avoid kissing and minimize any face-to-face contact by wearing a mask that covers both the nose and mouth.
She pointed out the obvious fact that ‘the lowest risk sexual activity during Covid-19 involves yourself alone’. She did say, though, that by ‘taking precautions and staying conscious of the risks we assume, [we] can find ways to enjoy physical intimacy while safeguarding the progress we have all made in containing Covid-19’.
Dr Tam added that a partner will be at higher risk for serious complications from the virus if they have an underlying medical condition, especially respiratory or heart, a compromised immune system, or are obese.