Meeting new people with a handshake, going into a business without a mask, feeling safe taking the subway – there are a lot of questions about what day-to-day life will be like post-pandemic… but for us on #TEAMSingle, the biggest question we have is when (or if) we will ever get to hook up casually again! Over at HuffPo, they asked some experts about the future of one night stands and other casual hook up situations, and here’s what they learned:

“Typically, the decision to have one-night stands impacts only ourselves and our partners,” they added. “These days, however, the activity has more widespread implications.”

And even once the spread of the virus slows down, this residual fear about physical contact may persist, Malina said.

“We are experiencing this pandemic as a collective trauma; understandably, it will take some time for us to move out of our natural fight-or-flight response and into total comfort with physical contact,” they said.

However, we shouldn’t despair – it doesn’t seem that our nervousness about casual dating will last.

Bell, the physician mentioned above, said some of his single patients have found short-term monogamous partnerships in quarantine “with or without expectations for the long term.”

However, he said he does “not have any evidence that the pandemic will affect people’s feelings about having one-night stands for the long term.”

“I think a lot of people are still having sex and have never stopped,” she said. “Especially now since the country is opening back up again, those who might not have been engaging before most definitely will now. People are touch- and companion-deprived and mainly plain, old-fashioned horny, which leads to people taking more risk to get their sexual and emotional needs met.”

So, how do you safely meet and hook up with local singles if you choose to do so? Some tips from the experts:

• Before you meet up, ask your partner if they’ve experienced COVID-19 symptoms or have come in close contact with anyone who has.
• Get tested for COVID-19 if you can.
• Skip the kissing.
• Try mutual masturbation.
• Consider virtual sex, too.