Dear Abby Friends short on sympathy after possible infection

DEAR ABBY » My husband came down with COVID and has been having a hard time getting over it. When he first started showing the symptoms, I took him to a drive-through medical clinic and got him tested for COVID. The results were negative, so a couple of days later, I carpooled with a friend to another friend’s house where seven other friends had gathered. Several days later, when my husband still wasn’t improving, I took him to an ER where they did another COVID test. This time it came out positive.

I thought I owed it to whomever I was around at the get-together to tell them about my husband. At this get-together, we all wore masks. We took them off only to eat and then put them back on. It has been more than 14 days since my husband got sick, yet , I haven’t come down with it.

I thought my friends would be supportive of me and what my husband is going through. However, I learned from one of these “friends” of more than 20 years that they formed a private Facebook group to discuss how each one has been doing on a daily basis, and I was not invited to participate. I feel betrayed by these paranoid friends. I have been contemplating ending my friendship with them. What do you think?

— Kicked When Down in Oklahoma

DEAR KICKED » Your first priority should be to help your husband get well and protect yourself — and those previously in contact wit hyou — from getting the virus. As to whether you should end your relationship with these “distanced” friends, from the way they are behaving, it appears they may have ended their relationship with YOU.