The universe with gasoline in hand, looked down at us and saw the dumpster fire that is the planet and poured one out for its homies. Lo and behold, the coronavirus (COVID-19) became an issue that we had to deal with, like, immediately.

Just want to note that this isn’t actually how the virus scientifically happened. There’s a lot of misinformation on the coronavirus itself, so just wanted to make it very clear!

Seriously though, staying as safe as possible for our own health also helps those around us that need to be protected the most: old people, expectant mothers, immunocompromised folk; all our most vulnerable populations.

And for those of you who weren’t dating during the SARS outbreak, it might seem a little confusing knowing what to do. How can one have sexy time in the unsexiest time?! A modern take on Love In The Time Of Cholera.

1. Download a dating app

No, not just saying that because we are a dating app. A recent survey done by dating app KinkD shows that the outbreak has increased dating app usage.

They surveyed 5,000 new members who signed up since Valentine’s Day 2020 and out of those, 1,456 people responded.

The questionnaire asked things like the motivation for registering for the app. Of the 1,456 people, 25.6% of them were motivated by the coronavirus outbreak, while the rest were simply lonely on Valentine’s Day or killing time, etc.

One of its users from the U.S. even left a comment saying: “I just got back from China last month, it’s been 4 days since being put under full lockdown by my parents. I’m cool with that as I’ve downloaded 7 dating apps to kill the time.”

In that particular circumstance above and in general, it’ll be safe to meet in person eventually (we hope) but y’all might as well get to know each other virtually until then!

2. Be extra hygienic and practice social distancing when leaving the house

At the time of writing this (February 28, 2020) COVID-19 was still only classified as an “outbreak” and no recommendations were made to stay inside.

Update, March 11, 2020: COVID-19 is officially a pandemic and should be treated as such. Follow all instructions from health and safety officials in your area!

Until it’s been confirmed by WHO that the virus is a pandemic, keep going out if you aren’t someone with increased risk of perishing from the virus. Just wash your hands way more, practice social distancing, avoid touching your eyes, nose, or mouth and for a proper hand-washing technique, click here! Carry hand sanitizer with you so your hands can stay as clean as possible throughout the day!

3. Be kind to one another

No, the coronavirus doesn’t go hand in hand with a certain race or ethnicity. Anyone can catch the coronavirus as it does not discriminate (neither should humans). In trying times, humans need to come together (but apart, you know?), stay aware, fact check literally everything, and keep yourselves informed! Checking out the WHO or the CDC every once in a while to stay updated is a good idea!

If you’re media and want to reach our Editor, Moira Ghazal, email her at [email protected]