Buzzkill, anyone?

In this era of social distancing, researchers from Harvard Medical School are recommending that couples wear face masks and refrain from kissing when engaging in sexual intercourse. The recommendations were published in the National Center for Biotechnology Information's Annals of Internal Medicine on May 8, as guidance for doctors when advising patients around sexual matters during the coronavirus pandemic.

While the question of whether the virus can be sexually transmitted is still unanswered, the biggest risk for sexual partners lies in respiratory secretions and aerosolized particles from the mouth. 

"On the basis of this information, all types of in-person sexual activity probably carry risk for SARS-CoV-2 transmission," the report states. "Infected individuals have the potential to spread respiratory secretions onto their skin and personal objects, from which the virus can be transmitted to a sexual partner."

Even engaging in intimacy with a person you're self-quarantined with can have dangers if the partner was exposed to COVID-19 outside the home. 

Courtesy of Pexels

But the bigger risk is for people having intercourse with partners they're not self-quarantined with. Those individuals are encouraged to minimize the number of sexual partners, avoid partners with coronavirus symptoms, avoid kissing (and other sexual behaviors that involve the mouth), wear a mask, shower before and after the activity, and clean the surface area afterward.

Read the report summary in more detail here:

Courtesy of NCBI

The report was written by Jack L. Turban, MD, MHS, Alex S. Keuroghlian, MD, MPH, and Kenneth H. Mayer, MD—all from Harvard Medical School in Massachusetts.

Also, recently, Veerawat Manosutthi, a senior medical expert at the Thai Disease Control Department, recommended that people who have recovered from COVID-19 infections abstain from kissing or sexual intercourse for 30 days. 

What do you think? Would you ever wear a mask during intimacy? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!