First Dates During The Coronavirus Pandemic: Shall I Pour You Some Hand Gel?

Dating and Covid-19

Dating sites and apps have heated up during the lockdown and the truth is, they’ve never been more popular. Many virtual relationships have been started during this period and many of those will lead to a first date in real life. Everything seems to have changed in the space of the past year and that includes how we go about dating too. Here’s how to battle through and make the most of a bad situation.

Between attraction and the need for social distancing barriers

While the streets are filling up again, many of us have returned to the office and have resumed a semblance of ‘normal life’. Yet, when it comes to love and dating during Coronavirus, is a date in real life after months behind the screen still a good idea? Will the physical attraction be there and will the precautions we have to take kill the chemistry? If we normally feel stressed before meeting a love interest, the current health situation will add even more angst to the mix. Before meeting your potential partner, you’ll need to decide whether or not you should wear your mask, how you should say hello; opting for a hug or kiss might be a little dangerous after all. Plus, should we stay one meter away?

When the confidence reigns beautiful things happen

During lockdown, a relationship was most likely to have been started from behind a screen. This gave us time to learn about each other and to establish complicity. When the moment of the first date arrives, apprehension rises, but it quickly gives way to mutual trust. We can opt to greet each other from afar and then take off our masks whilst sipping on our coffee outdoors. But what happens when the day flies by and we decide to head for a meal or, if we end up kissing, or even sleeping together?! It's hard to fight attraction and desire when you feel like you've known each other for a long time and you know the other person hasn't engaged in risky behavior. It's probably unreasonable, but how else do you reconnect with love when you're single during a pandemic?

What about when fear wins?

For others, coronavirus is like an STI (sexually transmitted infection). Here, first dates roll out at a safe distance and not much attention is paid to attraction. Kissing is synonym of risking contamination. Except that sometimes, after several dates, the apprehension gives way to kisses and hugs. The risks are there, but it's hard not to give in to the temptations.

For some, the anxiety is too strong, so there is no question of forcing yourself. It’s definitely best to be alone and in good health! Unless we replay an eternal first date, made of masked walks in the streets, sharing a public bench with a meter of distance and smiles with our eyes. If everyone seems to be returning to an almost normal life, for some, it is impossible to take risks even if it means courting each other for several weeks. After all, love during the time of the coronavirus is perhaps the return of a form of romanticism? It could even be the solution to less swiping and more depth.

Should I meet my online partner during the pandemic?

If we apply the rules strictly, of course, we should not meet new people, hold their hands or kiss them etc. But faced with the prospect of life slowly resuming and with the chemistry of fresh love, it might be worth taking the risk. Or, a controlled risk that calls for trust and vigilance with regard to the vulnerable people around us.

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