People have been urged “not to hook up” for sex in the wake of the coronavirus crisis by one of the UK’s leading sexual health charities.

The government has brought in strict social distancing rules to cope with the coronavirus outbreak – ranging from closure of schools to advice to avoid all non-essential travel and work from home where possible.

New government lockdown measures, which have been introduced to curb the spread of the virus, also call on people to stay home and only leave the house to buy food from a nearby shop or do exercise once a day.

The Terrence Higgins Trust, the UK’s leading HIV and sexual health charity, drew attention to the part of government guidance that asks people not to see anyone who does not live in their immediate household to prevent Covid-19 being spread between homes.

Dr Michael Brady, medical director at Terrence Higgins Trust, said: “I have never been an advocate of promoting abstinence – but this message is not about protecting your sexual health – it’s about protecting your general health and that of those around you from a virus that can be deadly. This is extraordinary and unprecedented advice for us to be giving out, but these are extraordinary and unprecedented times.

“It’s only natural that we look to sex for pleasure, to relieve stress and anxiety or simply to pass the time; whether that’s with a regular partner or using hook-up apps. But our ‘new normal’ is that we now have to find other ways to do this while sticking to the advice to stay at home. This is not just to protect ourselves against the virus but also to protect the most vulnerable in our society.

“I never thought I would say this – but the reality is that, for the time being, you are your safest sexual partner. It is time to stay at home, stop close contact with people outside your household and to be creative about how we manage our sex lives.”

The charity states washing hands and not kissing a partner during sex is not sufficient to prevent the spread of the virus – noting as many as one in three people with coronavirus display zero symptoms but are still able to give the virus to others who may be at higher risk of more serious complications from it.

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“Reducing body contact and having less sex really will make a big impact on reducing the onward transmission of coronavirus,” the charity explains. “This advice means that unless you have sex with someone within your household, it’s important to find sexual pleasure in other ways.”

Some 1,019 people have died from coronavirus in the UK, a rise from 759 the day before, the Department for Health has said.

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As of 9am on Saturday, a total of 120,776 people have been tested for Covid-19, with 17,089 positive results.

Covid-19 tests for frontline NHS staff are to be trialled this weekend in an effort to get people back to work if their test comes back with the all clear.