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Ottawa Public Health advises on safe ways to have 'the sex' this weekend

The health authority offers tips on how to have safe sex this long weekend.
Elana Shepert
Elana Shepert
face-masks-sex
Photo: Face masks and lingerie / Getty Images

If you're feeling frisky over the long weekend, Ottawa Public Health has some recommendations on how to engage in safe sex during the pandemic. 

On Friday, Oct 9, the public health authority took a conversational approach to its safe safe tips in an eye-brow raising Twitter post.

"Hello. Some of you might be wanting to engage in the sex this weekend," read the post. "Please be safe [and] #BeCOVIDwise."

As far as "the sex" is concerned, Ottawa Public Health says it is better to stick to people you live with or to consider virtual sex. If you opt-out of cybersex, you should wash your hands before and after intercourse. And, as always, use a condom.

Ottawa Public Health adds that "Consensual sex can be a way of dealing with anxiety or fulfilling and expressing our needs for intimacy." However, coronavirus can spread through close physical contact.

Your safest sex partner during the COVID-19 pandemic is yourself, but it is also safe to try consensual sexting, virtual sex, video dating, or chat rooms.

If you usually meet sex partners online, are polyamorous with people who are not living in the same house, or make a living having sex, consider video dates, sexting or chat rooms instead of meeting people in person.

Last month, Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, has some rather unusual advice for anyone looking to be intimate with a new person during the pandemic.

Keep the face mask on, even in the bedroom.

While that might sound like a strange recommendation, Canada's top doctor notes that a recent uptick in cases means it's now more important than ever to take precautions against COVID-19. 

Back in July, the BC Centre for Disease Control released a number of safe sex tips for the COVID-19 pandemic, and it included some rather surprising suggestions. 

For one, the Centre noted that positions best suited for sex during the pandemic are those with "minimal face-to-face contact." They also note that it is best to use barriers when possible. 

And what exactly constitutes a barrier?

Walls, such as glory holes, that allow for sexual contact but prevent close face-to-face contact.