MacKenzie Sigalos (CNBC) May 25, 2020
KEY POINTS
- With the coronavirus keeping people indoors, singles aren’t just meeting online. They’re holding virtual dates over video chat services like Zoom and FaceTime.
- The trend could carry over after the pandemic ends and create a shift in dating habits not seen since online dating started.
In New York, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S., the city’s health department put out a set of guidelines entitled, “Sex and coronavirus disease.” One piece of official advice: “You are your safest sex partner.”
Dating is hard enough in the best of times. Throw in government directives like this, plus nationwide social distancing mandates, and a highly contagious virus for which there’s no cure or vaccine, and you would expect the search for love to be the last thing on everyone’s mind. But dating is thriving.
Singles across the country are turning to dating apps in record numbers.