Dr. Anthony Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, in a way gave his blessing to lonely people looking to hook up during the pandemic.
Seemingly confused, Dr. Fauci was asked about hookups in an interview with Snapchat’s “Good Luck America” news program and was forced to share his advice on how to handle being lonely and unwilling to stay home during the coronavirus.
“If you’re swiping on a dating app like Tinder, or Bumble or Grindr, and you match with someone that you think is hot, and you’re just kind of like, ‘Maybe it’s fine if this one stranger comes over.’ What do you say to that person?” the host asked Dr. Fauci, apparently channeling the burning questions of Snapchat’s users.
“You know, that’s tough,” Dr. Fauci answered, as the New York Post reported. “Because that’s what’s called relative risk.”
Then he tried to explain the concept of weighing the satisfaction of a coronavirus lockdown-defying hookup against the possibility of contracting the novel coronavirus, which causes COVID-19 — a disease that, while primarily problematic for the elderly, is plenty risky for those of the age to use social media dating applications.
“If you’re willing to take a risk — and you know, everybody has their own tolerance for risks — you could figure out if you want to meet somebody,” Dr. Fauci replied. “If you’re willing to take a risk — and you know, everybody has their own tolerance for risks — you could figure out if you want to meet somebody,”
The risk of contracting the coronavirus through sexual contact is very high, at least according to pamphlets distributed by the New York and Oregon departments of health, which go into detail on how to protect yourself from contracting the coronavirus during a romantic encounter.
Dr. Fauci went on to remind Snapchat users that the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is particularly sneaky, and taht around 40% of people who contract the virus show no symptoms. Hooking up with someone who appears to be feeling well is no guarantee that you’re hooking up with someone who isn’t a carrier for the virus.
“What we’re seeing,” Dr. Fauci noted, “which becomes really problematic, is that there’s a considerable amount of transmission from an asymptomatic person.”
