Social distancing and self-isolation efforts prompted by the coronavirus are killing the economy. But a few specific industries are actually fairing better during this uncertain time. Hand sanitizer and other cleaning products (and toilet paper, of course) continue to fly off the shelves. Other industries seeing a boom in business since North America confined itself indoors are less obvious.

The adult-film industry, for example, and the many forms it takes online are all generally doing very well during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The creative PR department at PornHub has noted that traffic to the world’s largest adult website has seen an average daily increase of 5.7 percent since nations around the world began asking people to remain at home.

The largest increase was observed in Italy, where the virus has struck especially hard. Average daily traffic there is up 13.8 percent.

“As most of the country was required to stay inside, Pornhub’s statisticians found major changes in Italy’s hourly traffic,” reads a PornHub media release. “On March 11th, traffic at 2am was 47% higher than normal and remained 25% above average even at 5am. By 6am, traffic had dipped—16%. But 10am traffic had grown 10% above normal levels and remained above average until mid-afternoon.

“Traffic across all of Europe followed a similar trend as more people were working and staying at home, and some borders began to close,” it continues.

Belgium, the Netherlands, Czechia, and Japan have experienced similarly-large spikes in traffic.

In Canada, the increase has been smaller but has still occurred. Our country’s average daily traffic to PornHub has increased 2.5 percent, the same rise observed in the United States.

Cam girls are experiencing an especially significant growth in interest, according to the New York Post.

The newspaper interviewed Miami-based Joslyn Jane, who reported taking in US$1,700 last week compared to pre-corona average weekly earnings of US$1,050.

“We are definitely taking fans’ minds off this [coronavirus],” she told the Post.

It’s not especially well-known, but Vancouver has a sizable porn industry. Way back in 2008, the Straight reported that new production companies were setting up shop here. More recently, Vice took viewers inside a porn “bootcamp” that operates in Vancouver.

Not everybody who works in porn is fairing well. The boom in cam-girl business noted above is largely related to the fact that most of those women operate alone and are able to continue producing fresh content while still maintaining best practices for social-distancing.

On the other hand, a March 14 article at the Daily Beast notes that many productions involving more than one person are shutting down and experiencing difficulties shared by the majority of the entertainment industry.

Adult-film actress Maitland Ward is quoted there suggesting the sector might be uniquely suited to deal with COVID-19.

“The adult industry is inherently good at taking precautions and relying on health screening—of course it’s primarily STD screenings demanded by law every 14 days, but nevertheless we deal with things like cutting the risk of potential outbreaks or infections as a way of life,” she told the Daily Beast. “So, as an industry, we may be better equipped to take swift action and alert performers of outbreaks.”