AFP Sex workers protested against a ban in Düsseldorf

Coronavirus has been an unpleasant intrusion into people’s intimacy in all sorts of ways, not least sex.

German sex workers have won a reprieve – even if it is temporary – as brothels are reopening in several states, including the most populous one, North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW).

Courts have decided that brothels can operate provided there are strict hygiene rules – like at hairdressers - and prostitutes wear masks with their clients.

The top court in NRW found one-on-one sex to be no more risky in the pandemic than say aerobics in a gym or a party with dozens of revellers.

It is also argued that keeping brothels closed risks exposing sex workers to more crime, as they struggle to make ends meet, German media report.

The crisis has already bankrupted one of Europe’s biggest brothels – 10-storey Pascha in Cologne, where about 120 prostitutes worked, along with cooks and hairdressers.

Brothels are back in business in five northern states, including Hamburg, and Saxony-Anhalt state in the east.