Couples may want to ditch the expensive dinner date, and celebrate Valentine’s Day with just some good old fashioned sex.

Because COVID-19 is still around, the Straight checked out existing guidelines by the B.C. Centre for Disease Control about intimacy during the pandemic.

It looks like that the BCCDC has yet to update its recommendations, which go back to the summer of 2020, when vaccines were not yet available.

By comparison, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in its “Safer Sex and COVID-19” guidelines talks about vaccination.

Before hooking up, the city health department suggests, people should talk about vaccination status.

“If you or your partner is fully vaccinated, you are at lower risk,” the New York city health department notes.

The current BCCDC guidelines suggest asking “your partner(s) if they’re feeling unwell or have any symptoms of COVID-19”.

Here are some steps the centre recommends to protect yourself from the virus during sex:

Wear a face covering or mask.

“Heavy breathing during sex can create more droplets that may transmit COVID-19,” the BCCDC guidelines state.

Avoid or limit kissing and saliva exchange.

“The COVID-19 virus is spread by liquid droplets in saliva and respiratory (breathing) fluids when a person coughs, sneezes and, sometimes, when a person talks or sings,” the centre explains in its guidelines.

“It can be spread to people who are within 2 metres (about 6 ft) of a person with the virus if the droplets are inhaled (breathed in) or land in the mouth or nose of someone nearby - whether you are engaged in sexual activity or not.”

Choose sexual positions that limit face-to-face contact.

New York’s guidelines suggest: “Make it kinky.”

“Be creative with sexual positions and physical barriers that allow sexual contact while preventing close face-to-face contact.”

Use barriers, like walls (e.g., glory holes), that allow for sexual contact but prevent close face-to-face contact.

Use condoms, lubricant, and dental dams.

Before and after sex, wash your body and sex toys.

Current BCCDC guidelines also cover:

Masturbation

“You are your safest sex partner. Masturbating by yourself (solo sex) will not spread COVID-19. If you masturbate with a partner(s), physical distancing will lower your chance of getting COVID-19.”

Virtual Sex

“Video dates, phone chats, sexting, online chat rooms and group cam rooms are ways to engage in sexual activity with no chance of spreading COVID-19.”