PHILADELPHIA -- When Juan's long-term relationship ended the same day Philadelphia announced its first COVID-19 case and started the citywide shutdown, he knew the isolation to come would be a challenge.

So Juan, 33, created profiles on a handful of dating apps, including Tinder, Bumble, Hinge and OkCupid.

"It was tough because it was the peak of COVID and I was talking to a lot more people but not meeting up," said Juan, who asked to be identified by only his first name to protect his job. "People were really nervous. But I did connect with some people, which led to Zoom dates. And sometimes those dates would end with mutual masturbation on video, which was wild and unexpected, but super hot."

The pandemic has undoubtedly altered how people have sex. For some, despite — or perhaps because of —spending more time than ever with their partners, this year has led to a noticeable decrease in sexual activity. For others, it has forced them to get more creative in expressing their sexuality.

"While lockdown has been devastating to a lot of people's sexualities, there is a benefit to less sex for a lot of people," said Thomas Wood, a therapist at the Relationship and Sex Therapy Collective in Center City. "Maybe they felt overwhelmed by social pressures and expectations, and lockdown has brought them focus and they feel like they now have more control over the pacing of sex. That's been hugely helpful."

A study by researchers at Indiana University last June found that nearly half of 1,100 respondents reported some kind of change — most commonly, a decrease — in their sexual behavior during the pandemic. In a survey published that same month by Lovehoney, an online retailer of sex toys, 19% of respondents isolating with a partner said they weren't having sex at all.

"People manage stress in a variety of ways," said Chris Fariello, the founder and director of the Philadelphia Institute for Individual, Relational & Sex Therapy. "Some people manage stress through sexual means. ... I have seen a few instances of partners wanting more sex to relieve boredom, anxiety and stress. But for the majority of people, stress is an inhibitor to the sexual dynamic. And there are so many levels of stress happening during this time that people's interest in sex just really declined."

At the same time, social distancing measures have not ended sex. A survey by Match.com found that nearly half of Gen Z and a third of millennials who reported being sexually active have had sex with a non-romantic roommate. Additionally, sex toy sales have soared — Adam and Eve reported a 30% increase in sales last March and April, compared with 2019.

Tatyannah, a 25-year-old student and sex blogger in the Philadelphia area, said the last year has been "really weird for my sex life."

"At the start of the pandemic, in March or April, my sex drive was through the roof," said Tatyannah, who asked to be identified by just her first name for professional reasons. "Part of that was because everything was really new and I had nothing but time. But four months into the pandemic, it was like my sex drive was nonexistent. It was the only time in my life that I had no desire at all, and it was because of the pandemic."

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