AIDS was the epidemic that ended the free sex era of the 1970s. It was a death sentence for many years. Of course there were other STDs (ie venereal diseases LOL), but they were treatable and mostly curable. HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, was the killer and it killed, not only many people, but also the era. Today HIV is no longer a death sentence as long as an infected person has access to the latest healthcare and anti-retroviral drugs. It still defines the current era of safe sex: condom use, obviously.

The predictions about Covid-19 are that our societies and economies will need to manage to co-exist with covid-19 for the future, at least until a vaccine is developed. Physical distancing is intended to "flatten the curve" or simply reduce the rate of infection so that the healthcare system isn't overwhelmed. A vaccine is not guaranteed and anyway is at least more than a year away, by most accounts. Luckily the healthcare providers seem to be improving their treatment techniques (better guidelines for intubations for one thing), that may help to flatten the curve even more. In addition it is highly likely, although not yet proven, that once you have recovered from covid-19, you will be immune.

This pandemic was predicted by epidemiologists. There is nothing to stop SARS coronavirus 2 (the virus that causes covid-19) from mutating into SARS coronavirus 3 and us having to start all over again with flattening the curve, new vaccine development, etc. In other words we are possibly going to need to learn to co-exist with this virus, or another one emerging.

I wonder what guidelines will be developed for safe sex in the covid era. For many years, despite knowledge of HIV and it's transmission, many people continued risky behaviors and caught AIDS. Over the years condom use has become common, although still not universal. Perhaps in the covid era we will get a certificate of immunity to show that we are safe to contact. Or will we wear face shields during casual sex? I'm not aware of any evidence that body fluids other than from nose and mouth can transmit the virus. It makes sense that they wouldn't since this virus primarily attacks the airway.

How will we define safe sex in the Covid era?

If we reach the point where "face shields" become the norm, might as well just not bother with casual sex at all.

I don’t think things will get anywhere near that extreme. At the end of the day, Covid is a relatively mild disease. We don’t have a ton of effective treatment options yet, nor do we have immunity to it, so right now it’s dangerous. I think (assuming we don’t get a vaccine, which I think we probably will) once we know how to treat it and aren’t dealing with tons of people getting it all at once, it’ll become just another seasonal flu type of thing. One blessing here is that this virus hasn’t mutated much, so I do think a vaccine is very likely.

I think the bigger issue is going to be the mental health aspect of all of this. When this is over and countries start opening back up, it’s going to be tough for people to go back to living their lives normally. We’re so used to not going outside now, and if we have to, to avoid other people like, well, the plague. We’re used to not having any set schedule. We’re used to not having the same access to food and supplies that we did. We’re used to not being able to travel. There are gonna be a lot of shellshocked people out there. Not to mention all the people dealing with mental health issues due to a loss of employment and/or revenue. Things are going to be very weird for a while.

My concerns are twofold. First that Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema may see the need for ongoing 'social distancing' as a means of permanently shutting down the windows on health grounds. Second some window girls may decide their occupation is too risky. I was in Amsterdam the first two weeks of March visiting my main provider daily & she was getting increasingly concerned at the (then) lack of concern among the general populace & also the specific risk she ran by having, say 10 guys a day, spending time in close contact with her. In the end she took a flight back home on the 14th & may not return.

I'm more concerned about how this will affect the wider sex service industry than Amsterdam RLD specifically. I've never had an encounter in De Wallen that I'd repeat for the money I paid, so the only thing of loss to me would be the general atmosphere of that area.

But let's say the Dutch lockdown ends on the 28th as currently scheduled (it most likely won't), I definitely wouldn't be comfortable with visiting any girls for a while even if the option was on the table again, and I'm pretty sure that many girls wouldn't be comfortable working for quite a while either. So I have to wonder when (or even if) I'll ever see my favourite girls again. And of the girls who do remain available, what sort of prices will they be demanding for the risks that they'll be taking, and what kind of new restrictions will there be?

Prior to the lockdown, my favourite privehuis had already announced a "no kissing" rule, and I did hesitate to make one last visit because of it. I'm worried that DFK will become the new bareback; i.e. near impossible to find and a taboo to request.

I would argue also that after the AIDS discovery there was a huge paradigm shift from contraception as a means of avoding undesired pregnancies to contraception as an essential mean to protect yourself from illness.

So, in a way, it was all about limiting contact with fellow human beings for the sake of self-preservation.

The same holds true for COVID in a way that is utterly unprecedented. No hugs, no touching, no kissing. If an ill-conceived advance to a girl was ground for being sued for sexual molestation, now it is basically manslaughter or murder.

Hell, accidentally getting too close to someone almost istantaneously ends up in a fight right now with all the panicked people. Which is ironic, since no covids risks are considered while punching and kicking.

Sex will be bound to become a priviledge even more in the future, and the diverted sexual energy will be dispersed in a myriad of VR-augmented sex toys. Only the top-tier escorts will survive and thrive for elite clients, while serfdom like me will be limited to porn websites or cam girls.

Wake me up when this will be all over. I cannot fathom a world without hugs.

Stay safe and take care.
GP

I see two probable outcomes. The first and optimistic one is that treatment arrives in the form of an antiviral drug to treat the illness or a vaccine to provide immunity. If either of these comes to pass we can either coexist with the virus without fear like with measles or eradicate it (virtually) completely like polio or smallpox.

The second scenario is that we adjust to a new social order where we realign society around controlled physical contact, contact tracing, and immunity tracing. This will inevitably mean that societies with more public surveillance will succeed better at disease control than those who resist surveillance. In the US there are already people who are blaming Bill Gates for supposedly creating the virus and other (the same?) people who are intentionally protesting and violating lockdown orders. The amount of conspiracy theories is more terrifying than covid because it means the US may never get a handle on the contagion since there is a movement (encouraged by Trump) to distrust anyone in authority.

I'm hopeful for the first scenario, but vaccines are difficult to engineer. Luckily, this coronavirus seems to be mutating in a way that is not altering it's antigens, so immunity may be long term. There will still be the challenge of convincing the anti-vaxxers to accept a vaccine, but maybe they won't and we will be rid of them.

I think it is valuable to consider the second, pessimistic scenario, because it isn't unlikely. It would just be unfortunate for our Ignatzmice culture. There are a few girls I was hoping to meet again this summer and a few I was hoping to meet for the first time. Best case scenario these encounters will be only delayed. Worst case I will need to adapt and invest in VR/AR gear.

I just can’t see this becoming a permanent thing. People just won’t stand for it. We’re already seeing people start to get fed up. People just can’t be cooped up and forced to refrain from physical contact forever, we’re social animals. It may be another 6 months, or a year, or maybe more, but this will end one way or another. That isn’t in doubt in my mind, it’s just a question of how long and how much it’s going to cost us (both financially and in lives lost). I just don’t think just living with restrictions like this forever is a viable option. It would essentially be our extinction. Humans just can’t live this way forever.

I agree that the U.S. is the biggest worry. You have Trump essentially telling people to disobey the laws and go out if they feel like it (he just tweeted his support for the protestors). You have anti-vaxxers claiming that the virus doesn’t exist and that this whole thing is a global conspiracy by big pharma to allow the governments of the world to justify mandating vaccinations. You have the crazy anti-authority militia types who would refuse to drop and roll if they were on fire just to spite you. You have Fox News and Mr. Phil (his doctorate is invalid as far as I’m concerned) telling people that the economy is more important than saving lives, and that Sweden didn’t shut things down and they’re fine (they’re not, even per capita, number of cases and deaths are way ahead of other Scandinavian countries and they’re still expected to face similar economic downturn), or that we should just isolate the seniors and immunocompromised people rather than everyone, despite the fact that almost half of all deaths from Covid here in Canada have been in long-term care facilities. You have a system where no paid sick leave is mandated, where minimum wage is not liveable, and many people have no savings. You have people losing their insurance because they got laid off and now can’t get tested or treated for Covid if they get it now. You have governors trying outbid each other for medical supplies. Here in Canada, we just had the province of Alberta send thousands of ventilators and masks over to Ontario and Quebec because we’ve been hit harder than they have. The situation there is incredibly dire, and it’s insane to me how many Americans seem to think Trump is handling this well. Canada has about 10% of the population of the U.S., so apples to apples, our infections and deaths should be about 10% of theirs, but we’re currently sitting at about 2-3%. Frankly, the U.S.A. is kind of a perfect storm of what not to do if you wanted to build a country that was prepared to handle a major pandemic.

I have to say, I am incredibly glad I don’t live in the U.S. right now. I do not at all envy our neighbors to the south’s situation. They’re in for a very rough ride. I just hope they can stay strong and get through this. I don’t want to live in a world where China is the dominant superpower.

There's a joke going around:

Q. What borders on stupidity?
A. Canada and Mexico.

To address the subject, New York City Department of Health has released some guidelines.

https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/doh/downloads/pdf/imm/covid-sex-guidance.pdf

Notable points not usually reported elsewhere:

1. COVID-19 has not yet been found in semen or vaginal fluid.
2. We know that other coronaviruses do not efficiently transmit through sex.

The best advice seems to be - move in with an SP for the duration. Might get expensive, but worth it.

The United States of America is fucked if it takes a long time to obtain a treatment or a vaccine. The vaccine scenario I don't think will happen anytime soon. There is a good chance it won't happen at all. what will very likely happen is that medication will be produced that will help people to combat the virus to such an extent that it won't cause death.Forget the vaccine consideration for the moment as its a pipe dream to think we will have that within the next 2 years. Our hope lies in the medication. But if the medication takes a longtime the consequences of this will be horrendous especially for the states.

THEY JUST REOPENED THE STATE OF GEORGIA! WHAT A BUNCH OF IDIOTS!

Well, on the plus side, between all these asinine protests and red states reopening, a lot of very stupid people are going to die. Probably make the country (and the world at large) a slightly better place without some of the selfish, entitled, gun-toting, bible-thumping, conspiracy theorist, anti-science, xenophobic knuckle draggers. It’s actually kind of a shitty person filter. Good people realize there’s more at stake here than just their ability to get a fucking haircut, so they’re staying in and not getting exposed.

It's basic Darwinism natural selection - Those individuals with heritable traits better suited to the environment will survive.

So, no more DFK, but Hello 69. Could be worse.

I was talking to one of the girls yesterday and she thinks it may be September before they reopen and yes they are extremely concerned about things opening too soon so it could be a very long wait but better to wait and see it out than open early

I think September is optimistic. I'm not counting on visiting any girls this year.