The coronavirus has affected more than just work or our summer vacation plans. Some couples were faced with the fact that their sex life had to be changed (or even completely canceled), following all the sanitary and hygienic requirements. One UK girl shared a personal story of how sex with her boyfriend changed during quarantine.

26-year-old Melanie Jennings from the UK developed such a fear of contracting the coronavirus that now she and her boyfriend Joe Hutchence have sex only in masks and gloves , and the girl covers the bed with sheets that have been washed and disinfected twice.    
 

“Joe knows that he needs to take a shower with antibacterial soap, put on a mask, gloves, and before that, his hands need to be immersed in a strong disinfectant – only then he can touch me,” Melanie said. “This is not some weird sexual fetish. Yes, I am a victim of coronaphobia , but I love sex, and now my world has turned upside down. “

Melanie, according to her, from childhood has always been not just a neat, but a germophobe ( germophobia is the fear of germs). After school, she trained as a nurse’s assistant, because she felt safe in the clean rooms of hospitals. In addition, the girl went to a psychologist who diagnosed her with OCD (obsessive- compulsive disorder). People with OCD are very often “manic” about cleanliness and fear germs and bacteria, wash their hands dozens of times a day, and so on. A person with OCD is well aware that his behavior can be strange and illogical, but without the help of a psychologist, it is difficult to get rid of this, as fearful obsessive thoughts begin to appear. Melanie and Joe met in 2012 and were friends at first, but after Christmas 2019 they started dating. “The sex was amazing. We did it every day, and sometimes twice a day. Then on March 2 of this year, Joe had a terrible dry cough. He was ill for a week and could not breathe normally. He was quarantined with suspected coronavirus. The suspicion was not confirmed later, but I saw how bad he was, and this frightened me very much. When he was discharged two weeks later, a severe quarantine began in the UK and thousands were dying . ” According to Melanie, suddenly the “super-clean and safe” place she worked in began to scare her. “In the second week of quarantine, the nurse I worked with was diagnosed with the coronavirus and my anxiety attacks worsened. I was afraid to go to work, afraid of germs, afraid for myself and Joe. The clinics where I worked lacked personal protective equipment. ” The girl couldn’t even think about sex without using hand sanitizer, body wash sanitizer, and disinfected towels. She spent £ 1,750 on the whole thing. “I know it’s a little crazy, but Joe knew how I felt. When I first suggested that we wear masks and gloves to make love, he agreed. I made our bedroom a clean, germ-free area. I change the sheets daily, wash the floors twice a day. I light candles that are made using natural disinfecting oils: lemon, geranium and citronella . Yet Joe and I try to make it as normal as possible. We drink wine, I turn on relaxing music. ” Melanie added that they have sex for no more than five minutes. According to Joe, he is doing everything to help Melanie, because when he was hospitalized, he was very scared, and now he understands her anxiety.  
“I love Joe and I love sex, but that’s the only way the coronavirus won’t take him away from me.”

By the way, Harvard University recently conducted a study on how to make ” corono- sex” safer. The world’s leading scientists do recommend that couples take precautions, including wearing medical masks. The scientists also recommended wearing condoms, as another study found some men had traces of the virus in their semen. But hygiene is key – showering before and after sex.

“For some people, complete abstinence from sexual activity during a pandemic is not possible,” said study author Dr. Jack Terban . “In this situation, the safest approach is to have sex with whoever you live with, if there is such a person.”

In the Netherlands, they went even further – the authorities called on singles without permanent sexual partners to try to find such … among their close circle, for example, among friends. “Try to negotiate sex during quarantine with the same person to minimize the likelihood of the spread of the coronavirus,” reads the recommendations for the public. And quarantine should not be a hindrance to variety – here are 25 positions for having sex at once anywhere in the house. Fears in sex have always been and will be, regardless of quarantine – we described the main ones. How to be in the current difficult situation? It is really difficult to advise, but the main thing, probably, still remains trust between partners. If they are ready to meet each other halfway, if they can agree, despite the fact that one is worried about safety, and the other is not, then all difficulties will surely pass together. Even sex quarantine.