Are you one of the younger, single folks who’s still looking for love? Do you use any of those fancy dating apps that have become so popular in recent years? Well, you might want to make some updates to your profile. If you really want to attract a good potential match, there’s one statistic that might make you even more desirable than an attractive picture or a seven-figure job. A positive novel coronavirus antibody test. But you’ll want to have the test results printed out and scanned to display for your next date because they’re going to be wanting to see some proof. (NY Post)
They’re single and have the paperwork to mingle.
Singles across the country are boasting about their coronavirus antibody test results when they’re out on the prowl. Some are even including the status of the test results in their online dating profiles, using their possible immunity to score a lover in the middle of a pandemic.
“About a week and a half ago, my clients started asking questions like, ‘Maureen, this person that you matched me with, do you think they’ve had the coronavirus?’ ” says Maureen Tara Nelson, a Long Island-based matchmaker who plans to ask new clients about their COVID status going forward. “We’re asking people if they’re comfortable sharing if they’ve had it, and if they’d like to to know if the person they’re matching has had it.”
I don’t know why I was so surprised when I first read this. In a way, it sort of makes sense. There have been numerous reports in the past about dating sites quietly asking about proof of HIV status when making matches. I suppose this wouldn’t be any different given the current conditions.
This is one more instance when I feel particularly blessed to not be out there in the dating scene. I’ve been married for nearly a quarter of a century and I haven’t had to worry about dating anyone new since the early 90s. To be honest, I was terrible at both being single and dating. And that was back during a prosperous time when jobs were plentiful and the economy was strong. Nobody was on lockdown and the future looked bright if you could avoid contracting HIV.
But the novel coronavirus isn’t really like HIV, is it? Particularly when it comes to dating. We eventually learned that it was nearly impossible to contract AIDS from someone without a direct transfer of bodily fluids. Not so with COVID-19. Also, if you have a negative test for the coronavirus today, that really means nothing to your prospective online dating partner. You could still pick it up tomorrow or at any time before your date.
Making matters worse, the medical community isn’t entirely sure at this point if the people who have been exposed to the virus and survived are truly immune or if they can’t still pass it on to others. And unlike AIDS (again), you might be entirely clean, but show up for your date wearing a shirt that was handed off to you at the dry cleaners by someone with the disease.
When we take all of this into consideration, flagging your online dating profile to indicate that you have a positive antibody test might not really be that much assurance. In fact, I wonder if it could turn out to be a false sense of security and lead to some additional people becoming infected.
