It was just a string of text in my Facebook feed. But there it was.

A high school friend, someone who I've known for most of my life. Positive with COVID-19.

He's OK. His family is OK. They have gotten through it, albeit after battling a disease that he said kicked his…well, let's just say it's a word that I cannot repeat in a family newspaper.

But he's here, in our community. He hasn't been traveling, He's been washing his hands.

The numbers ratcheting up in the daily reports from the Sullivan County Department of Health have been chilling to some. Others seem to be shrugging them off.

One thing I've heard more than a few times is that they're “just the city people.”

Let me assure you, they're not.

According to our county's own head of public information, Sullivan County is adhering to New York State Department of Health rules which dictate that a COVID-19 diagnosis is assigned to the patient's primary residence.

Why is this happening? Frankly, someone had to make a decision. Some states have decided it is attributed to where the diagnosis is made. Some states have decided it's attributed to where the person primarily resides. Is there a perfect decision? Certainly not, but counting people twice is not going to help anyone.

So this is what we know: The number of cases released regularly by our county is the number of local residents who have been diagnosed.

Is it exhaustive?

I'll leave that question to the experts at public health. It's not my job to start rumors.

It's to share information.

Here's what I know: A friend has a case of COVID-19 that was verified by testing at Catskill Regional Medical Center. He did everything he could to prevent it, and yet it happened.

He's not a hoax.

He's not a faker.

He's lucky to have gotten through, along with his wife whose test was negative but who also went through similar symptoms and their toddler who was and remains A-OK.

I know someone who has gone through it.

Something tells me you do too.