[Reporter: Ioanna Roumeliotis] It wasn’t
love at first sight.
It was something better.
Deandra Henry and Herman Kabungu say it was love under lockdown.
That's funny because I'm mostly in my books and always studying.
So I feel like if the quarantine didn't happen
I was never going to click on the app.
So it was almost like it was kinda meant to be at that moment.
[Reporter] Deandra is a musician.
Herman is also an artist and studying chemical engineering.
They met online in April.
And spent weeks getting to know each other before actually meeting.
If the pandemic didn't happen, I don't think
I would've slowed down enough
to put the energy and time that it requires to develop a connection like that online.
[Reporter] Call it COVID courtship.
The desire for human connection has only deepened since the pandemic hit.
Dating apps are reporting a 30 per cent jump in their numbers.
But romantic distancing has set a whole new pace to dating.
Things have slowed down significantly.
Woo hoo.
I love that.
And the courtship process has been reintroduced.
So, before people would skip courtship and go straight to intimacy.
Now, it's mandated.
Flirt with the camera my dear.
[Reporter] Carmelia Ray has been a matchmaker for nearly 30 years and this is her busiest summer.
Today she and her team are directing a photoshoot with a client, to refresh her online profile.
Yeah you can be like ‘hey, let’s meet
up for that social distance walk
with our masks and have a great time.”
You can make it funny right?
[Reporter] Carmelia says COVID has made everyone more discriminating.
Number one, a new line of questioning is having the COVID talk.
Who's in your bubble?
Who are you socializing with?
Are you going to work?
Are you working from home?
Are you wearing gloves?
What's your attitude about the pandemic?
If there's not an agreement about how to treat this pandemic
and your comfortability and your risk assessment
then that's not even a match even if all the other things are.
[Reporter] If there is a match, then it’s a question of how to take it to the next level.
It's so good to see people.
[Reporter] Kimberley Smith started a singles Facebook group in her neighbourhood
at the start of the pandemic.
It’s grown to nearly 500 members.
I think that's one of the most challenging
times right now is where do we go as singles.
There's not as many opportunities to go for dinner or go to these entertainment areas.
And, because those are all closed we're trying to look at new ideas.
Like coming to the park or going for a picnic or let's go for a bike ride.
So, I think it's brought things down a bit
and made things a bit simpler for us.
But we still have to be creative in what we want to do together
so that's always a good conversation.
Everybody has their paint brushes in front of them, do you have a large paint brush?
[Reporter] Drawing on her work as an artist
Kimberley is hosting COVID-safe singles events.
Like painting in the park.
It’s simple and these days that’s what
she and most people seem to want most.
I think, yeah, I think for everybody we just
got more of a clearer idea
of what's really important.
Like, what matters is being kind to each other
and family and those good conversations and understanding.
And, I think there's that kind of peacefulness and bond between people on online now, yeah.
[Reporter] For Deandra and Herman, love in the time of COVID was also less a leap of faith.
And more like a slow crawl to the “deep
end."
It even inspired them to write this song about it.
“I would jump all over again. It feels like I’m drowning, but I don’t want saving”
And, Herman in the song was expressing “nah I’m just going to drown.”
"I'm just going to jump."
And, I was like aw this is cute, aw.
Yeah, so he sent me the first verse and the hook
and then I wrote the chorus and the second verse and the bridge.
You pretty much finished the whole thing.
I finished the whole thing.
So I was like what?
I finished it as soon as he sent it to me.
[Reporter] They may have written the lyrics in no time
but they took their time getting here.
And why they say they’re going strong.
I see this going further.
Like further like where?
I let you meet my parents and everybody.
And I usually don't do that lightly so.
I really want to take this far to point we
build something together.
There's just something about her that makes me want to stick around.
And it's going to take me a while to figure out how to keep searching for that.
Now you got me blushing on camera.
I can say same thing though.
Herman came into my life even when I didn't know I needed someone like him in my life
to really push me in my art, my music, my faith.
My everything.
I'm quite lucky to have found you, I think.
Are you trying to make me blush?
So I'm excited for further.
[Reporter] How they met, when they met.
It’s just the start of their COVID love
story.
Ioanna Roumeliotis, CBC News, Toronto.
