As the deadly coronavirus pandemic continues to wreak havoc around the world, and countries imposing lockdowns, people are forced to isolate themselves and stay indoors in order to avoid getting infected and curb the spread of COVID-19.
This has led many to stockpile essential products like toilet paper and groceries, among other things. However, the outbreak has led to panic buying of what some might consider as an essential item: sex toys.
Sex toys sales skyrocket amid the outbreak
If you're stuck at home due to a global pandemic, what do you do? Play video games? Binge-watch content on Netflix? Read a book? Nope. It seems like people are killing time by pleasuring themselves instead.
The deadly virus has caused a surprising increase in sales for sex toys and it has nothing to do with the fake "Constant sex kills coronavirus" image that is circulating on the web. Adult toy manufacturer Womanizer, says it experienced "well above average" sales between January 1 and March 6, mostly in areas that have been largely affected by the coronavirus.
"Many people and businesses are affected negatively by the virus and we saw it as a challenge for us as well," the company's spokeswoman Johanna Rief said in a statement to CNN. "The numbers are therefore surprising."
"With the prospect of long periods at home either alone or with your partner, people are exploring new ways to make the best of the time available," she added.
In Italy, sex toy purchases are currently 60 percent over the forecast, in France, it is 40 percent, 135 percent in Canada, 75 percent in the United States, and 71 percent in Hong Kong. Even in Australia, sales have surged by 31 percent since January.
PornHub offers free Premium subscription in Italy
After Italy enforced emergency measures across the country, its citizens are forced to stay under quarantine so PornHub decided to give them Premium subscriptions, completely free of charge, as previously reported.
The website announced that users from Italy will be able to watch PornHub Premium content without entering their credit card details up until April 3. The subscription will give Italians access to PornHub's exclusive full-length content, and enjoy other premium benefits like no ads, better video quality and faster streaming speeds.
