Sex with someone you don’t live with is now illegal from today

Under the new coronavirus legislation which bans gatherings of two or more people in indoor spaces, it seems sex is now illegal! 

The latest amendment to The Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) Regulations 2020 bill states that: “no person may participate in a gathering which takes place in a public or private place indoors, and consists of two or more persons”. 

Based on the new change, this means that sex falls into this bracket. 

It further states that: “there is a gathering when two or more people are present together in the same place in order to engage in any form of social interaction with each other, or to undertake any other activity with each other”.

This means that it makes it illegal to have sex with anyone outside of your household. While you can meet in groups of six from June 1st in an outdoor public place, it still remains, of course, that sex outdoors is illegal. 

Although the law doesn’t implicitly ban sex, it does clearly state ‘no gatherings’ of two or more people in public or private indoor spaces.

Meanwhile, in the Netherlands restaurants, pubs and bars are reopen and the government has advised single citizens of the country to find themselves a lockdown ‘sex buddy’. 

The guidance reads: “It makes sense that as a single [person] you also want to have physical contact.

“Discuss how best to do this together. 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.”

Coronavirus is not a sexually transmitted disease, but can be passed through kissing and other close contact such as having sex.

If you or your partner have COVID-19 symptoms, you should not kiss or have sex. 

Avert, a nonprofit organisation that provides information on HIV and sexual health, and has provided a full list of guidance on how to safely have sex during the COVID-19 pandemic, including how to have sexual pleasure without physical contact.