Jason is a New York City-based "sugar daddy" who's been using SeekingArrangement for years.

While he typically uses the site to meet women he spoils with dinners, baseball games, and gifts, Jason told Insider since he's drastically changed how he sugars since he started physical distancing on March 15.

Jason now solely talks to women online rather than risk meeting up with dates in-person because of the threat of contracting the novel coronavirus.

Despite the pandemic, Jason said he still encounters people trying to meet with him in person. "I won't have anything to do with anybody who's that irresponsible," Jason said.

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Jason's last date with his long-distance girlfriend felt like a scene out of an apocalypse movie.

New York city was abuzz with people rushing to stores to stockpile canned foods, cleaning supplies, and groceries as city hospitals braced for the expected wave of COVID-19 patients to come. As tension and anxiety mounted throughout the US in early March about the spread novel coronavirus, the Manhattan-based stock trader knew it would likely be a long time before he could see his Ohio-based date again.

As a sugar daddy who meets dates on SeekingArrangement — a website designed for sugar daddies and sugar babies to connect — Jason is no stranger to flying his long-distance significant other in and spoiling her to a weekend of fancy dinners and shopping. Sugaring is a dating dynamic in which a "sugar baby" dates a "sugar daddy" in exchange for gifts like a weekly payment (or allowance), vacations, and dinners.

But this meeting was different. Worried about contracting the virus, Jason and his date wandered through Manhattan in search of an empty restaurant where they could enjoy their final meal together with minimal human interaction.

"The city had not shut down yet, but I was shutting the town because I knew I can't go out. This is just not a good idea," Jason told Insider. "We found a restaurant, a big steak house, in which there wasn't one patron, so we were the only ones there."

She was the last person Jason saw before quarantining in his Manhattan apartment on March 15. He has yet to leave since and he's certain he won't be seeing his sugar baby in a long time.

"There's nothing we can do about it. I'll see her one day," Jason said. "I'm not as optimistic as a lot of people about how quickly we're going to be able to do things."

Some sugar babies are still trying to meet in person, but many don't have a choice

Jason has had to drastically change how he sugars in the last month.

Because he can't meet people in person, he's using the site to chat with women online rather than face-to-face over a candlelit table.

He was shocked, however, when after chatting with someone for a few days, she suggested meeting up with him in person.

"I knew immediately that was it," Jason said. "I won't have anything to do with anybody who's that irresponsible."

Some sugar babies are worried about a complete loss of income during the pandemic because of COVID-19 quarantines

Jason is an nontraditional sugar daddy, which means he uses the site to meet dates he can spoil with gifts or dinner but doesn't believe in giving out weekly allowances like in typical sugaring arrangements. He said this means he rarely interacts with women who use sugaring as their main form of income.

But for those who are use the sight as a primary source of income rather than to simply date, not being able to sugar is a significant threat to their livelihoods.

While some sugar babies are taking precautions and moving their relationships online, others may not have the option. A New Orleans-based sugar baby told Insider she is struggling to move her sugaring online because her sugar daddies pay for in-person service.

SeekingArrangement has overall seen more user signups than ever since the beginning of March, according to Kimberly De La Cruz, head of public relations for SeekingArrangement.

"It's a whole thing of 'How am I supposed to keep supporting you if you can't actually do face to face?' which is fair," the New Orleans-based sugar baby said. "But, of course, now I can't even attempt to go [to the same town as my sugar daddy] because there's no safe place for me to stay."

Do you have experience with sex work and feel your income is being impacted by COVID-19? Email clopez@businessinsider.com and tell us your story.

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