How dating apps have adapted to the pandemic and made romancing safer As for-profit corporations, should dating apps be taking care of our health? The pandemic has challenged and changed how most people date and hookup. âMonogamy is preferable at this time,â said Horacio Arruda, Quebecâs National Director of Public Health, during the height of the first wave. Government-imposed physical distancing measures, stay-at-home orders and other public health initiatives resulted in a shift toward online dating. Three main ways dating apps have responded to the pandemic As scholars who study how digital technology is changing dating and relationships, we noticed swift responsesfrom dating app companies when lockdown measures were introduced.