Single People in the Netherlands Have Been Advised to Find a 'Sex Buddy' During Lockdown

The National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) published this new official advice for Dutch singles on May 14, reasoning that "it makes sense that as a single [person] you also want to have physical contact."

According to the RIVM guidance, if you take appropriate measures, then there shouldn't be a problem with meeting up with somebody to throw down and really get those "apocalyptic hornies" out of your system. Sensible precautions include ensuring that both parties have been safely self-isolating and haven't been exposed to COVID-19.

"Discuss how best to do this together," reads the document. "For example, meet with the same person to have physical or sexual contact (for example, a cuddle buddy or 'sex buddy'), provided you are free of illness... Make good arrangements with this person about how many other people you both see. The more people you see, the greater the chance of (spreading) the coronavirus."

This new set of recommendations will be welcome news to an increasingly sexually frustrated population. Preliminary data from an ongoing Kinsey Institute study suggests that going without sex during quarantine can affect not only our sex lives, but also our overall physical and mental health , including raising our blood pressure and stress levels, and possibly even increasing the risk of prostate cancer for men if they aren't ejaculating frequently enough.

However, the RIVM isn't giving people carte blanche to get laid. The guidelines say: "Don't have sex with your partner if they have been isolated because of (suspected) coronavirus infection," and remind people that "sex with yourself or with others at a distance is possible." This last suggestion echoes guidelines which were issued by New York State at the beginning of lockdown. Regardless of how careful you are when meeting up with people who have been isolating elsewhere, the fact remains: your safest sexual partner in the pandemic is yourself.