My abuelo (age 80) received news today that he is positive for COVID-19. Like many folks his age, he has multiple chronic conditions. This was preventable. A thread.

I have relatives who see them at least 2X weekly. The relatives did not wear masks or respect social distancing on many occasions they spent time with my abuelos. The relatives saw other households, went to business meetings, even threw dinner parties (including 2 last week.)

The relatives started having symptoms on the weekend, tested Monday, and got results yesterday. We spent MONTHS telling our relatives to protect the most vulnerable in our fam, and that their behavior could risk the health of my grandparents.

And we spent months telling my abuelos to be careful. We were worried about exposure. My grandparents told me many times they were worried about getting infected at my relatives' home. But they also yearned to see their family. It's hard to be elderly in a pandemic.

We saw my grandparents maybe 3-4 times since April. It was at a social distance, with masks on, and outdoors. We thought this was the best way to protect them. My grandparents felt safe going to my relatives' house because it was the only place they went to.

I am not posting this to publicly shame or call out my relatives. I am posting it because I have multiple folks who are on the same boat, and who have family who is walking around like there isn't a pandemic ongoing, or family who is loosening restrictions.

This pandemic is HARD. I miss my family and my friends. But we need to maintain social distancing, keep wearing masks, and limiting our social contacting. Otherwise, we can get sick, or worse, make the most vulnerable + high risk ill.

And we NEED to hold our friends + family accountable. Tell them they need to wear masks. Tell them they need to social distance. TELL them we need to protect the most vulnerable in our lives. And call them out when they throw dinner parties. Now is not the time.

I am hopeful that everything will turn out ok. I love my grandparents more than anything in this world and have faith. But I am scared. And there was no reason this had to be this way.