Is It Morally Wrong To Cuddle During A Pandemic?

SunshineSnuggl

Going into someone's home or inviting someone into your home you are putting one another at risk for contracting the disease. Neither of you could have symptoms and you could have it. You could think you're clean and contract it touching the front door knob. Cuddling puts everyone involved at risk. Is it morally okay to break social distancing orders by the state in order to earn a living and put a smile on someone's face?

Lovelight

Short answer yes. Long answer yes.

Yes it is morally wrong to cuddle some one in the midst of a health crisis. You or your partner could unknowingly be transmitting a virus to each other and then possibly infect others you each come in contact with.

That's only doubling the potential new positive cases and further adding to the current crisis.

In the long run that money you earn will cost you at least three times more in medical treatment and the health care system in more patients to treat. That smile will be faded with years of possible regret and illness secondary or teritairy to the virus you've just contracted.

So it's just not worth it.

Rattler1997

Can this be the same as people have a partner that has a STI. They take precasions accordingly. Ooor arew you just meeting a client/person and saying do you feel sick type of thing which is a heck no .. just me

Lovelight

@Rattler1997 how can people take "precautions" with this while meeting others to cuddle with, especially strangers: when the advice and logical thing to do is to socially distance? I don't think the corona virus is comparable to "sti" nor the context of cuddling.

pmvines

@Rattler1997 I'm not going to explain to you why it's different. You are an adult and there is plenty of info out there as to why it is different . Apples and oranges

SunshineSnuggl

I personally haven't been offering in person services but I'm troubled by pro cuddlers who do. I've surprisingly had an influx of people wanting to cuddle in person and I've turned it down, but I know they're just going to others in my area. It's become less of a business things and way more a moral and safety issue for me

geoff1000

I think it is morally acceptable to cuddle with someone in their last hours, and then go into self-isolation for 2 weeks. If I were told someone very close to me was in that situation, and I could ease their passing, I would probably do that.

It is also morally acceptable, if both people are in collective isolation. The reason for the 14 days is for the "suspect" to have long enough to become infectious, and the others to catch it and show symptoms ; which relies on them being continuously in close enough contact for that to happen.
If they stayed too far apart, so B only caught it off A on Day 10, that wouldn't work.

If we are talking about occasional meet-ups, then no.

UKGuy

Your thread title says "Is it morally wrong" and your message says "Is it morally okay". So if someone answers "Yes', what does that mean?

SunshineSnuggl

@UKGuy they need to explain their thoughts rather than simple answers. It's not a simple question.

SnugbugGypsy

It depends I guess. It's not advised but if you live alone and don't work or care then go for it I would if I lived alone and didn't work in the food service industry. But I like cuddling it'll have to wait I guess if I had a lot disinfectant maybe

hugonehugall

My field of work is based on our employees going into people's homes all the time. Even now we still have to. For the service we provide there's really no way around it.

WKplatonic

No, It isn't wong to platonic cuddle during this time. Talk to your cuddling partner about it Be a mature adult about it by using sound judgment and good common sense. We can not allow the government to control all of our lives. In my opinion, there was just too much blood sacrificed for our freedoms.

desi_babe

Definitely yes. As a society, we decided that it was more important to save lives than it was to continue building the economy. You would be making that sacrifice a waste.

MattsWeather

@SunshineSnuggl I'd say 95% of those who cuddle shouldn't be cuddling in-person until this passes. You have to take into account the wide variety of reasons people seek out professional cuddling. For those that do it as feel good luxury (like a high end spa day that you could do without), they should NOT be cuddling during this. For perhaps the largest group of cuddle seekers (myself included) are lonely and want platonic companionship. The collective loneliness is certainly at an all time high right now because of the physical distancing we need to maintain. This is where the virtual cuddling can be an awesome, safe alternative to meeting this need. While the huge element of touch is lost, you still receive the other half of what you get out of an in-person session, companionship! Many pro cuddlers are charging up to half off for virtual cuddling. For the smaller number of people that seek/rely on cuddling as a much needed complementary service to mental health therapies, I'd say decisions on in-person sessions should be made on a very limited case by case basis. The same way most talk therapists have moved to tele-health only (video/phone sessions) for most, they will still see clients in acute situations in-person during this time.

gentlecuddler4u

In short --

If you believe that putting other people's lives at risk is morally wrong than yes it is morally wrong to meet in person during this pandemic. If a lot of people ignore the warnings many more people will die, most likely including people you care about.

Longer version --

Think of it this way. The estimate is that if we take social distancing precautions as communicated by our government the expect number of casualties in the United States is 100,000 to 240,000 people. For each person who doesn't take those precautions the estimate increases up to a projected high number of around 2 million or so. 400k Americans died in WWII and we could come close to or even exceed that number in less than a year.

A high percentage of people have none or mild symptoms could be 40% of cases. It also can take up to two weeks to become symptomatic. So it's really not possible to know if you or your cuddle partner have the disease. If you catch it, you may not get very sick but you might pass it on to someone else who will die as a result.

**In short, cuddling someone you do not live with during this time risks lives. **

Melancholy

If you look at those curves, it appears that the same number of people get it, just spread out over time....so in that scenario once the peak is passed, its probably ok to cuddle again right if we're all going to get exposed anyway sooner or later.

geoff1000

@Melancholy
". . . if we're all going to get exposed anyway sooner or later."

Social distancing buys time, for the development of a vaccine, which will protect the people who would otherwise have been exposed to it later, and suffer badly.

In parallel, will be an "immunity passport" , based on
a) A test which proves the person has had it and recovered ; plus
b) Scientific proof, that such recovery proves immunity, and incapability of transmission.

The incidence of carriers in one's area, is a measure of how many empty cylinders the revolver has when you play Russian Roulette. The "immunity passport" by either party, is the proof that all cylinders are empty.

It is rather like unprotected sex. It is only "safe" if either both parties are clear of illness, or they are "fluid bonded".

LVLouisCyphre

COVID-19 appears thus far to be an airborne virus transmitted similar to a cold or flu. If the mutual cuddlers are aware of the risks and take appropriate precautions then I don't see an issue with it. You're not swapping spit or upper respiratory tract fluids; only touch. I'm not going to pass judgement on what two mutually consenting and informed adults do. I don't see an issue with someone having a COVID-19 cuddle buddy provided they are responsible about it.

What if two cuddlers are both COVID-19 positive? What harm is being done in that case? Absolutely none. They both have the virus, might as well comfort each other. Perhaps that comfort will both help them through the course of the disease and they both survive.

pmvines

The harm is when you knowingly put yourself at risk for it, contract it, and pass it on to others who In turn pass it to others . It's airborne , meaning swapping of fluids is irrevelant . And you may say so what if you are infected it doesn't mean you will have serious effects from it . However there are those who will have serious effects from it who might have not gotten it had they not touched the gas pump or keypad you just used , or walked past you as you were sneezing .

This is a very good discussion, however despite our needs & yearnings we need to be practical and yes morality does involve social shared responsibilities....so much is yet to be known about C-19 including: the likelihood of reinfection vs immunity; truly how long does the virus last wherever (reports found to remain inside cabinets on cruise ships 17 days later); and whether it will be similar to colds & flu whereby it evolves or mutates regularly or annually. I like everyone do not want to be controlled by fear...but others...friends and loved ones health is also at stake.

ubergigglefritz

I am seriously disturbed by the arguments people use to say it's ok. Slowing the spread and reducing the curve is ALSO to keep the load below threshold at hospitals. Once they pass capacity, MORE people die. It's F'd up to not care about more people dying so you can do something unnecessary. The trouble is that for many people, cuddling is a mental health necessity. That's why there are so many people struggling and we'll likely see an increased rate of suicide attempts and successes, if we haven't yet. But the solution is coming up with other ways to connect in this time. It's NOT to just cuddle anyway. 😞 I know people in NY and you don't want that level of outbreak to come to your area. It's truly devastating...

BTW, it's easier to transmit than some of you seem to think...
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-03-29/coronavirus-choir-outbreak

warm_embrace

I do think it’s morally wrong for people to engage in irresponsible behavior that could cause harm to others. During a pandemic, cuddling with strangers qualifies as irresponsible.

geoff1000

@ubergigglefritz
When the warnings first came out, they referred to "close contact" for "more than 15 minutes" ; and very few platonic cuddling sessions would be that brief.

The issue seems related to "viral load", how much of it you get ; which I think is why the social distancing instruction isn't a safe continuous limit, it is a "last line of defence" if one must go out at all.

As with nuclear radiation, or non-accumulating toxic chemicals ; the human body probably has a safe Covid-19 exposure limit, say N virus particles inhaled per day. Walking through the aerosol cloud of someone who coughed there a few minutes ago, is probably OK ; but too many of those, then a touched door handle followed by a nose scratch, or picking up the can of beans that a previous shopper decided to not buy after all and taking it out of your cupboard the next day ; they add up, and none of us know what our personal value of N is.

Covid-19 is a biological weapon, though probably not one that humankind created. In the natural environment, it is diluted then degrades, like a self-disarming land mine. A human body however, takes just a small sample, and churns out a continuous stream ; like a terrorist with a 3-D printer making handguns from plans they got off the Internet. A person with Covid-19 is a manufacturer of Weapons of Mass Destruction.

AceCuddlerMike

Another vote for yes. It's hard if not impossible to imagine a scenario where two people willing to take the risk can guarantee they won't put others at risk.

geoff1000

My worry is that the "casual sex" fraternity will become even more casual. If they are willing to risk Covid-19, which is a big unknown ; they might be more blasé about HIV etc.

dallasrdrunner

It absolutely is morally wrong. Yes most people will be fine if they get this but many will not and everyone needs to do their part to protect the people that might not be. It could be you, me or someone you care about, could be a total stranger. We need to allow for time for our medical PPE supply chains to catch up, we need to keep people out of hospitals so they don't get overwhelmed, and we need to allow science the time to develop a vaccine. This has nothing to do with our rights and liberties, it's about doing what's right for the human species. If we ignored social distancing and did what we wanted, the world will look very different coming out of this. Yes most people will survive but the cost will be immeasurable.

hiricky

It’s not ok to cuddle.
We have to be mindful for the health and safety of others. We as nation have to do much better than what we are doing right now. Please wear masks and wash hands . Only way to slow the spread and buy time so our health care system can sustain the load.
Donot forget that COVID is not the only disease people are suffering from. People are still coming in hospitals with strokes, cancer, accidents and many other issues.
If all hospitals are filled with COVID patients, what are we planning to other sick patients. Do you think we need to push ourselves to a point where we have to decide between saving a son, dad, mother or grand father? Can any one decide which lives ones we need to let go if we have to make a choice.
It’s not all about individuals , we have to fight COVID as a society and nation. Thanks all

MrPaul

@SunshineSnuggl
It is negligent to do any activity like cuddling that spreads or potentially spreads covid19.

BoomerSpooner

I am not convinced. I bet someone could put their tongue on a public light pole and lick it and nothing would happen.

I should be hearing double dog dares about now.

AceCuddlerMike

It'll get really serious If someone skips the triple dare and goes right for the triple dog....