海角大神

If there鈥檚 one thing the pandemic hasn鈥檛 canceled, it鈥檚 the search for love.

Throughout the health emergency, daters have taken to apps, websites, and matchmaking services in search of connection, with more meeting in person as the crisis drags on at a time when every touch is calculated and fraught.

Some daters insist on safety precautions before leaping into offline meetups. Others take no precautions, relying on mutual trust. A聽 few are on the ultimate step, marriage.

In March, the popular dating app Hinge experienced a 30% increase over January and February in messages sent among users. In June, compared to the same month last year, there was a 13% increase in the number of dates 鈥� virtual and in person 鈥� in the United States and United Kingdom, said Logan Ury, chief researcher for the app.

Mr. Ury said the resolve to reach out amid coronavirus chaos is strong.

鈥淒aters are feeling creative. They鈥檙e feeling resilient, and they鈥檙e not willing to put a year of their love life on hold because of the global pandemic,鈥� Mr. Ury said.

Look no further than Jordan and Brittany Tyler in Allegan, Michigan, as evidence of that.

Jordan, an adjunct professor of communications at Western Michigan University, and Brittany, who supervises a program for autistic youth, had both been divorced for about a year when the pandemic hit. Neither had dated online before they signed up for Match.com.

鈥淲hen the lockdown happened an alert went off on my phone and it sounded liked 'The Purge' or something,鈥� Brittany laughed. 鈥淚 thought, 'I鈥檓 going to die alone.'鈥�

Both had dated their exes for several years before marrying. Not this time.

The two started texting March 18. They were wed by July after spending much of quarantine together after a romantic date March 24 at Jordan鈥檚 place. He made gluten-free pasta from scratch and threw steaks on the grill. They watched the movie 鈥淧.S. I Love You鈥� and shared a kiss less than two hours after meeting in person for the first time.

Jordan鈥檚 winning line when they hopped from text to the physical world?

鈥淚 said, 'Hey, if you come have dinner with me I鈥檓 stocked up on toilet paper. I鈥檒l give you a free roll,'鈥� he joked. 鈥淚t was worth the risk.鈥�

For two New Yorkers, real-estate agent Gordon von Broock and hair colorist Alix Mane, pandemic love didn鈥檛 start with a dating service. He had been her Instagram crush since late last year and the two had exchanged casual messages.

By March, he was a COVID-19 survivor. She spotted a video he put up on Instagram as he regained his strength.

鈥淗e did not look well,鈥� Ms. Mane said.

Their first Zoom date at the end of April lasted seven hours. They progressed to real life and they鈥檙e now engaged.

鈥淚鈥檝e been divorced twice and have four children. If we weren鈥檛 in the COVID-19 situation, knowing that Gordon had never been married, was 53 years old, and never had children would be kind of a little red flag for me. I would have been a red flag for him,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut we got right to the point.鈥�

Mr. Von Broock added: 鈥淚f we had met in different circumstances I would be, no way, but we had the time to really get to know each other.鈥�

Dawoon Kang, co-founder of another popular dating app, Coffee Meets Bagel, said the company鈥檚 鈥渟low dating鈥� approach, in contrast to endless swiping, seems to appeal to users during the pandemic. The bulk of the app鈥檚 users are between 25 and 39 years old.

鈥淲e鈥檙e seeing an all-time chat rate,鈥� Mr. Kang said. 鈥淚n mid-March, after the lockdowns, 90% plus of our daters told us they had completely stopped going on dates in person.鈥�

During brainstorming sessions with users since the pandemic began, Mr. Kang learned that many yearned for community and a way to ease their loneliness, regardless of whether that led to dates. In response, Coffee Meets Bagel added twice-weekly Zoom meetups of 50 to 100 people from late April to late June.

鈥淣ow, people are actually starting to meet up in person, but they鈥檙e taking longer and being more selective since there鈥檚 more at risk,鈥� she said.

In Washington, D.C., communications consultant Carlos Zavala has been spending time on Tinder and Bumble but has yet to go on a date in person. He had stopped using the sites in December, but reactivated his accounts in April because: 鈥淚 was going stir crazy being home with the family.鈥�

Only recently has he felt comfortable, with COVID-19 rates dropping in his area, considering going out with someone in person.

鈥淚鈥檝e seen that our conversations do get more personal faster than usual,鈥� Mr. Zavala said. 鈥淚n the beginning, I considered not dating, but then I realized this actually is making a lot of people be more real with what they want and cuts through all the b.s.鈥�

Mr. Zavala鈥檚 experience resonates with many corona daters, said Yue Xu, a former relationship coach and co-host of the podcast 鈥淒ateable.鈥�

鈥淧eople are having deeper connections,鈥� she said. 鈥淧eople are bonding over maybe feeling alone, feeling helpless, feeling a sense of loss. So that initial bond is pretty strong, even though these relationships may not last.鈥�

Alina Mayes, senior matchmaker for the luxury firm Selective Search, said that at the beginning of the pandemic, the idea among affluent, older core users was to find someone to quarantine with. Most were used to vetting prospective mates offline with a one-on-one matchmaker, and had to settle in to virtual matchmaking, she said.

鈥淏ut we鈥檝e been busier than ever,鈥� Ms. Mayes said.

Selective Search charges an average of $50,000 to $150,000 per client. The average age of clients hovers in the mid-50s.

Meeting up in person is back on for many, Ms. Mayes said, with a shift against 鈥済auging physical chemistry right away towards more concern over mutual interests, shared experiences, and stronger emotional connections.鈥�

As for breaking social distance to hug, kiss, or have sex, Ms. Mayes laughed:

鈥淭here鈥檚 been some of that. It鈥檚 just taking longer. This pandemic and lockdown have really put things into perspective.鈥�

This story was reported by The Associated Press.

Editor鈥檚 note: As a public service, the Monitor has removed the paywall for all our coronavirus coverage. It鈥檚 free.