How close to you does someone need to be for you to say you know them when it comes to covid?

I would count the regulars here as acquaintances, and regard most of you as above the curve for Americans in their appreciation for the implications of this disease. The single outcome regarding this disease is that the punishment for neglecting the realities associated are stark and morbidly predictable—so much so that it is no stretch to declare them scientifically appropriate. That alone probably assures us guaranteed misery. This disease is a direct and sadly indisputable verdict on rampant American stupidity, and everything from that indelible snapshot of frail Herman Cain sitting mask free in that crowd of death rally maga hats through the White House as ground zero as vector point for infection, to our 4% world population and 25% of world infection—all of it points to but ONE undeniable conclusion regarding our nation’s state of cognizance. It is embarrassing at minimum and deadly as well.

I really can’t believe you are making this a republicans vs. democrats as to who really knows people that have Covid.
You are almost making a joke out of it. This is not cool.

It isn’t a joke. IT’S a FUCKING FACT. STUPID PEOPLE ARE GOING TO KILL YOU. You can blame me for telling you this if you want. But I’m not the one telling you that masks are useless. Nor will you catch me demonstrating this belief in solidarity with the crowd defying this “intrusion” on its “civil rights”. I’m not the one who has made stupidity a political issue. It IS an issue, like it or not.

People who I know who have had it are two degrees of separation from me. One was a friend of my daughter’s who is a nurse, and the other is a friend of a friend.

People who have died – are all 4–5 degrees of separation from me. Meaning a friend of a friend of someone I know who has a cousin whose wife died. So, no one that close to me.

@stanleybmanly, who are you ranting at? @JLeslie or @chyna? Seems a bit excessive for either the Q or @chyna’s post.

@JLeslie, I really don’t understand quite what you are asking. What do you mean by “lower bar” in this context?

@canidmajor the rant is directed at poor @chyna. Excessive or not, the fact remains that this pandemic IS politicized, and that politicization is directly attributable to the single individual whose leadership was indispensable to avoiding the grim situation in which we presently stew. The magnitude of that error cannot be overstated, and the resulting statistics are as unavoidable as they are unforgivable. I am both frustrated and enraged at the enormity of it and the needless suffering to come.

Merely being on Fluther isn;t close enough. But if someone I interacted with regularly were to get sick or die, I would describe as “an online acquaintance of mine”.

I don’t know anyone close enough to me that have died from Covid, but I do know people who have been very sick, including my niece, who was sick for three weeks and took another week after that to regain her energy.

I know two, and possibly three, people who have died of it and a fourth who is known to a Jelly I am close with. Someone in my congregation had a bad case recently and the two kids of a friend tested positive but had mild symptoms.

The closest person to me was my hairdresser. She is about 22 and she is back to work now. I’ll see her Wednesday. Nobody that I know personally (closely) died. Nobody else that I know closely got the virus. Mostly friends of friends or relatives of friends.

@stanleybmanly, I don’t think any one on fluther doesn’t know it’s been politicized. Maybe the magnitude of the errors cannot be overstated, but they have been stated often enough on this site that your outrage is redundant here.

Sorry, @JLeslie, for somewhat derailing.

I disagree on your assessment regarding awareness of the political divide and in particular the degree to which it is responsible for our runaway infection rates. And I believe redundancy not only essential but advised and stridently so at that.

It would have to be a personal acquaintance from my area. I’ve known many who had it and recovered, none that died (so far, thankfully.)
The irritating part is that here, everyone thinks its ‘underlying conditions’, not Covid itself.

A friend of my Dads has it,does that count?
Thankfully he hasn’t seen that friend for months.

No one I know personally has had Covid.

@chyna was accusing @JLeslie of treating Covid like it was a joke, as well as politicizing it, @stanleybmanly. Chyna doesn’t think it’s a joke.

And I just remembered my grandson’s dad had it.

I’ll clarify. I have an acquaintance who says she only knows one person who had covid and they had a mild case and recovered well. Her husband works in healthcare and knows about plenty of people dying from covid. She wears a mask when she flies because she has to, but otherwise she doesn’t and lives coming to Florida and walking around mask free.

One of my closest friends where I live, seven people on her block had covid and two of them were hospitalized. I don’t know them, but she knows them more than just saying hello on the street. In my book that’s me knowing people who had covid and have been hospitalized. I would always clarify friends of a friend, but I still count them.

My dad’s friend’s sister died from covid, I know him via email discussions. I just found out about 4 people that are another friends of a friend situation here where I live. One other real life friend of mine, her friend died. An online friend from Facebook I have known years had it. 30% of my sister’s caseload died in March and April. Not all covid, but mostly. There are more like that. I count those as knowing people who have had covid.

So my no masker friend I mentioned, who is a Republican, who wants to tell herself and others there isn’t anything to worry about, doesn’t count people the same as I do I don’t think.

I have another real life friend who lost her aunt and uncle to covid and she says they were old and basically God’s will. She’s a no masker QAnon brainwashed and not a Republican but is a Trumper.

I don’t mean ALL Republicans are oblivious and look at covid the same way. I never mean all of any group ever. I do think many (not all, God give me a break) Republicans have a different filter for believing covid has touched them

@KNOWITALL I see the same thing. Especially QAnon people feel superior that they are HEALTHY and if you are sickly or fat then it’s you’re own fault. Those deaths they choose not to identify with.

@chyna I honestly don’t know what you are talking about. Explain what you think I’m asking.

It has nothing to do with who really knows people with covid. It has to do with Trumper Republicans knowing people or at minimum people once removed, and completely discounting their existence. Do you hear Democrats saying, “I don’t know anybody who has it,” or asking people, “do you know anyone who has it?” That Trumpers and QAnon saying it doesn’t exist or none of their superior friends are having a problem.

Plenty of Republicans are on board with masks and upset with anti-mask party goers, but too many are in denial.

I count family and anyone who is a true friend, whether I have met them in person or not.

My best friend since high school is on her 10th day of fighting it. So far it has been like a bad flu. My niece got it and is fine now. My brother in law just got it, here’s hoping he will be okay.
A dear friend and his husband had it months ago and ended up fine.

Anyone I have met in person.

My dad is a Trump-supporting Republican and he knows that I’ve been in poor health since contracting COVID in May/June. He mostly stays home, although I think he over-exaggerates his COVID-avoidance behaviors because of my health and professional background.

I’ve known of far relation that died with covid. But they already were dying of cancer. Autopsy revealed they had contracted covid but the cancer was the primary reason of death. I think it was liver cancer.

My daughter has a workmate who caught covid but nothing serious. And a friend had a workmate who caught it as well and her kids but she was the hardest hit with it (but not hospitalized) and is recovering. Kids no real symptoms, only like a light cold. A guy at my husband’s job as well, early on in the year but not serious. He said it was like a mild flu.
So no one within our world has died from Covid. However, the hospital in my area is at full capacity with covid patients. We are also fortunate that most of the people we know either are working from home, or retired and are taking precautions seriously. And those in our families that do work front line jobs are also being very cautious and work in establishments that are being very cautious.

Like the one friend who had a coworker get it. Her job is really serious about taking precautions and keeping distance and has split the job shifts into 2 to minimize the staff so they can social distance safely. So when the co-worker go ill, that shift all stayed home for 2 weeks and everyone took a covid test from the first group.

The first group split into 2 shifts for the 2 weeks to cover for the rest.

Oh, correction I do know of someone who did catch covid who I actually keep contact with. He went to college with my daughter and it was actually recent. He also didn’t get it pretty bad, luckily and 3 weeks later was back to work. We were all concerned for him because he has other conditions that make him vulnerable and I forgot because we currently have a young cousin who was diagnosed with a heart condition and is hospitalized and will need a transplant and several other health and family issues all happening just this month. It’s like 2020 wants to go out with a bang.

Rick and I had covidm