Sweden says sex is good for public health and your own wellbeing, as long as your partner is not showing coronavirus symptoms

• Sweden's Public Health Agency released guidelines on sex during the coronavirus pandemic.
• The guide said people in established or long-term relationships can continue to have sex if they aren't showing coronavirus symptoms.
• They do not advise hooking up with a stranger.
• It's a slightly more liberal take than the advice from officials in the US who have advised against sex with people you do not live with, even if you are in a relationship.
• It is possible to have the novel coronavirus without showing symptoms.

Sweden's Public Health Agency is encouraging people to have sex with their long-term sexual partners — whether they live together or not — as long as they aren't showing coronavirus symptoms.

The advice comes in a new guide on sex and dating during the coronavirus pandemic, reported by the English-language news site, The Local.

The guidelines state that, as long as you and your long term sexual partners are being communicative about your symptoms and observing social distancing, sex is healthy for you — and, indeed, for everyone else.

"Closeness, intimacy, and sex are good for well-being and public health," the agency website reads. "In relationships, where people are still meeting and are close to each other, sex is no obstacle if you and your partner, or partners, show no symptoms of illness." (It is important to note that it is still possible to have the coronavirus without showing symptoms.)

Sweden still advises against casual sex and dating strangers, which "pose a risk of getting infected or infecting others."

But, overall, it is a much more liberal approach to sex and relationships compared to officials in the US and UK who have generally advised against having sex with people you do not live with during the pandemic.

The Netherlands has adopted a similar sex-positive public health approach during the pandemic. Dutch officials have recently advised single people who are quarantining without a long-term sexual partner to find a "sex buddy" to have sex with during the pandemic.

Though some countries are beginning to experiment with different public health approaches to safe sex during lockdown, public health officials still warn that mingling outside your household is a risk, and it is possible to have COVID-19, and pass the coronavirus on to someone else, without showing symptoms.

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