Another Winter Party attendee has died from coronavirus
By Dan Tracer April 1, 2020 at 12:04pm · 43 comments
Ron Rich, a musician and volunteer at the recent Winter Parry circuit festival in Miami, has died at the age of 65. He is the second coronavirus death linked to the event, which took place March 4-10.
Folks around Fort Lauderdale have posted remembrances of Rich, who was a warm presence among the local LGBTQ community.
Related: 40-year-old Winter Party attendee dies from COVID-19
"Ron was a familiar face to the guests who attended the Task Force Gala, Winter Party Festival and our Fort Lauderdale house parties over the past five years as his big smile and warmth had him mostly serving on our hospitality team Ron also volunteered with the Outshine Film Festival and Lambda Legal," the National LGBTQ Task Force wrote on Facebook. "He will be missed. We extend our condolences to his family and friends."
Last week, another Winter Party attendee, 40-year-old Israel Carreras, succumbed to the virus.
Many other party-goers contracted COVID-19 at the event, which took place just before strict social distancing guidelines went into effect.
Related: Gay circuit party in Miami now linked to coronavirus cluster
Chris Johnson, the Chief Political & White House reporter for the Washington Blade, spoke with one attendee who reported, "Within my group of friends, 10 or so of us have flu-like symptoms. I've chatted with acquaintances who in most cases say that they have many sick friends within their groups as well."
As of March 31, there are 163,539 reported cases of COVID-19 in the United States, and 2,860 deaths.
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mc4bbs
This, and many other deaths, are the direct result of Donald Trump down-playing the seriousness of the virus and avoiding passing on isolation advice given to him by scientists. Remember that when you go vote in November.
April 1, 2020 at 2:04pm Log in to Reply
ShiningSex
Trump is a moron.
However the CDC and WHO warned about large gatherings before the idiot said more about it.
April 1, 2020 at 3:04pm
Begoniakid789
You are wrong – Trump was trying to do things before anyone in Congress was. He stopped flights from and to China. Congress was still concentrated on his impeachment. They accused him of being a racist because of what he wanted to do regarding China – then they woke up. Thank God we have Trump in office – can you imagine if Obama was still president? Look at all the people that died under Obama's administration during the Swine Flu. You need to consider looking at the other side and stop living in the dark.
ElPillo
@ Begoniakid789. You are a troll. Your lies (or trump's) won't change history or truth.
Kangol2
@BegoniaMAGAt, your trolling might work on Breitbart but not here. Democrats began warning in JANUARY that this was serious! Chuck Schumer asked Dumpy to take it seriously then. Senator Murphy urged him to do so in February. NJ Democratic Gov. held a task force meeting on the coronavirus the day of the Super Bowl. Biden and Warren both had plans for how to deal with it in late January and February 1. Biden even wrote an Op-Ed on January 27 warning we were not prepared and criticized Dumpy's inaction and nonsense. On February 13th, 27 Democratic Senators urged Dumpy the Con to take this seriously.
Of course Dumpy the Con said at a rally in the South that it was a Democratic hoax, there were 15 cases going down to 0, that it was "great" for business, and on and on. His grotesque dereliction is criminal. He also disbanded numerous policies and programs Obama had put into place just for this purpose! He should have been removed after impeachment because as horrid and homophobic as Mike Pence is, he has even done a better job and lied less than Dumpy the Con. But then to quote your fave, Dumpy himself said that impeachment didn't affect his delayed, inept, horrible and confused actioins.
Lastly, one month after H1N1 appeared in the US, in March 2009, three months after Obama was inaugurated, the Acting HHS had declared it a national emergency. Dumpy the Con fiddled his thumbs, misinformed the country, lied and equivocated, and is still sending out mixed signals as this far more dangerous and transmissible virus keeps spreading. Its destructiveness is well past H1N1, but even FoxNews know this. The best thing for everyone would be for Dumpy the Con to resign and just let Pence serve out the rest of his term. Dumpy knows he might end up in prison, though, so he's going to try to hang on until the bitter end, no matter how much blood is on his tiny hands.
Onecaddy13
I really don't like to discuss anything political with anyone because of the strong views each individual has. I'm not a Trump voter, but everyone has to stop blaming him. Even Biden says it was a little harsh when Chuck Todd of Meet the Press tried to blame it on him. Why is everything so political? So let's stop playing the blame game and get this country well and back on its feet so we can build a better America that it once was.
apwilson54
well i'm not surprised for the adult child performance (or lack of) plus remember good old Ron Reagan who wouldn't mention HIV and so many died, This virus is savage to the point I feel like i'm living in a Sci-Fi movie. Those that test positive with no other symptoms are blessed and i'm grateful that they haven't died,
April 2, 2020 at 12:04am
@Onecaddy13
How do you spot a right wing troll? They say things like "I"m not a Trump voter but" before saying something completely defending Trump. Or "I'm gay and… or As a lesbian, or As a Transperson, As a bisexual, etc… Before they say something defending anti-LGBT bigotry.
April 2, 2020 at 8:04am
mz.sam
R.I.P. Blame it on fellow Trump buddy, Gov. Ron Desantis for not enforcing statewide safe at home-lockdown early on…still.
Again, I am not going to get political. But why do people make the most dangerous decision to go out in public when this disease is running rampart in all 50 states. This disease was months old when Mr. Sam made that unfortunate decision to go out that cost him his life. May he Rest In Peace and give the family guidance through this difficult time.
@Onecaddy13 Let me rephrase. You aren't going to get political…except for the fact that you're coming on to multiple posts to defend Trump.
It's sad, but also stupid. People were warned not to gather in large gatherings early on.
Ignorance is causing sickness and death sadly.
It is sad – but he was an adult and made his choice.
masterwill7
Indeed, the whole of Europe was already in quarantaine, NY was already hit hard, and there were warning everywhere.. We've seen the interviews and full beaches on the news, they all didn't care about the virus, even if they knew they got sick they wouldn't stop partying dozens of them said! Well, here are the consequences unfortunately…..
jmforeman
At the time of the Winter Party Festival, Miami Beach had officially declared itself "open for business," no city or state in the nation had moved to ban large events (19,600 attended the Miami Heat game at the American Airlines Arena the following week), there were only two reported COVID-19 cases in Florida (both on the other side of the state), and megachurch services, concerts, and theme parks like Disney World went on unimpeded Even Seattle, which was hit earliest and hardest by the epidemic, did not move the bar events over 250 people until after Winter Party had ended. If anyone here failed, it was our government, not those who organized or attended the Winter Party. This moralizing harkens back of all the moralizing we endured from other gay people during the AIDS epidemic.
fur_hunter
We can put the entire blame for no immediate action on the Orange Moron in the White House. That piece of S hit is a conceded, self-centered A ss hole who blames everyone except himself and says that all those comments the news puts out regarding his early response are Fake News. He's the one who disbanded the Pandemic group of the CDC in 2018 yet says it was not him. I hope he gets the virus and dies a horrible and painful death.
djmcgamester
OK, man, chill out. Who are you blaming for 12,000 dead in Italy and 8,000 dead in Spain? Fact is, this is a terrible thing that's happening, which you obviously know. Let's just keep calm (as best as possible), follow all the suggestions (social distancing, washing hands, etc) and we'll get through this. Wishing ANYONE suffer through this is a bad thing. Best solution to not liking Trump is to gather people to vote him out.
Yes djmc, it was going to happen regardless. BUT, the complete non-action from the White House and other local officials (I'm looking at you Governor of FL, GA and others) is the reason that the spread is as bad as it has become. We could have followed the model of South Korea which did indeed "bend the curve" but we didn't. Again, because the Cheeto in the oval office was calling it a hoax as late as Feb 20.
Thank God he is our President and not one of the piece of "S" politicians.
@BegonidKid4Drumpf,
Here are Dumpy the Con's selected Covid-19 #FAIL statements (and there are many more!):
January 22: "We have it totally under control. It's one person coming in from China."
January 24: "China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!'"
January 30: "We think we have it very well under control."
February 2: "We pretty much shut it down coming in from China.'"
February 10: "[Coronavirus] dies with the hotter weather."
February 26: "This is a flu. This is like a flu."
February 26: "[Coronavirus is] going very substantially down…close to zero."
March 5: ""We got hit with the virus really three weeks ago, if you think about it, I guess. That's when we first started really to see some possible effects."
Sorry to hear this. With so many people packed together the odds are several people will be infected.
RIP, Ron Rich. And can we stop playing the blame game for a moment? Please stay safe and healthy. And when we can gather again, step up and help do some of the good things Ron did.
SiamSean
Hoping that Aaron Schock didn't miss this party…
People!!! Come on, we're much better than this. This is absolutely abhorrent !!! We should never wish death upon anyone, or get terrible disease that can cause great harm just because you dislike the individual. We get it, but people need to stop blaming just one person as there are many politicians involved on both sides of the aisle. People need to fact check before commenting what they heard on the news/cable stations/outlet as they are also guilty of not reporting the news correctly. Several major cable stations had to walk back their comments for jumping the gun just for a story and a gotcha moment. Also for not fact checking.
I LOVE this new troll tactic of pretending you are a pearl clutching voice of love for all….except all you have done is defend Trump.
But again, nice try, at least you did something different on this post.
ashersea
@mc4bbs
I'm no fan of Trump like the next guy but I disagree 100%. To blame this man's illness on Trump is asinine. WP was March 4-10. You are a terrible person, get your head out of the sand.
Personal responsibility! Cruise ship people were dealing with this a month or more before!
(PS: I hope your message is an April Fool's joke)
I completely agree. I think Trump is the worst POTUS I've seen in my lifetime, but this constant need to blame him for the coronavirus is getting really tired. Let's move on, for Chrissakes… as djmcgamester stated, other countries have been dealing with the same issue we are and their leaders didn't plan ahead either. We need to work together to put an end to the spreading of this virus, rather than constantly looking back and blaming Trump for everything. Watching his daily broadcasts, he finally looks like he's humbled himself a little and is realizing just how serious all of this is. We have plenty of time to vote him out come November.
Except he was calling it a hoax and did not let the Federal government put out federal stay at home guidelines.
And in case you missed it, recently the Governor of Florida said he didn't shut down his state because Trump hadn't said to.
So yeah, Trump's fault. The party wouldn't have happened if he had acted.
not to be shallow – but what a good looking man. this is a sad thing – a tragic thing – what we are facing in our country and around the world. People are dying. I didn't begin social distancing until March 14 – in NYS. So, I don't know if we were getting the seriousness of this situation just a few weeks ago.
April 1, 2020 at 10:04pm Log in to Reply
Tyrone Johnston
No worries. That wasn't shallow.
This is a disaster, even on his national press conference he mentioned covid 19 very briefly, Then changed the conversation to stopping drug runners at sea and where ever else. He changes the subject every time he is in hot water. He is out of his league, so is his vp, and McConnell he needs to be buried under quantonamo for treason. He stated it was "fake news" he played it down while viable time was slipping by, while he said as soon as it warms up it be gone. He does not listen to those he should be listening to and keeping his mouth SHUT. He is not a leader, the only reason he is make a little sence he is reading the lines. He needs to go!
The organizers of the Winter Party bare some responsibility, but I have yet to hear them take any. Their virtual silence speaks volumes. At the very least, they should issue an apology for their lapse in judgment.
April 2, 2020 at 1:04am Log in to Reply
At the time of the Winter Party Festival, Miami Beach had officially declared itself "open for business," no city or state in the nation had moved to ban large events (a full house of 19,600 attended the Miami Heat game at the American Airlines Arena the following week), there were only two reported COVID-19 cases in Florida (both on the other side of the state), and megachurch services, concerts, and theme parks like Disney World went on unimpeded. Even Seattle, which was hit earliest and hardest by the epidemic, did not move to bar events of over 250 people until after Winter Party had ended. No one understood that the virus could be transmitted simply by talking to someone.
Of course, we now know that the government¬ – starting at the top – completely botched the nation's response to the epidemic through indifference, incompetence and misinformation. We are all a victim of this, including the Task Force.
Trump does indeed have blood on his hands. How can his fans continue to support the massive incompetence of his administration?
TxHeat
The top Democrats in congress received the same info as Trump did, maybe if they weren't so rabid on trying to impeach Trump they could have acted on the intelligence they received. Nancy and Adam had the ability to act also.
You mean the same Democrats that were sending letters to the CDC demanding action, going on TV, and being attacked for pushing a hoax by Trump.
Sweetie, tell them to send smarter trolls.
@TxHeadless, your trolling might work on Breitbart but not here. Let's try again:
Democrats began warning in JANUARY that this was serious!
Chuck Schumer asked Dumpy to take it seriously then.
Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) urged him to do so in February.
NJ Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy held a task force meeting on the coronavirus the day of the Super Bowl.
Biden and Warren both had plans for how to deal with it in late January and February 1.
Biden even wrote an Op-Ed on January 27 warning we were not prepared and criticized Dumpy's inaction and nonsense.
On February 13th, 27 Democratic Senators urged Dumpy the Con to take this seriously.
& so on. Dumpy the Con didn't take it seriously & still doesn't. The deranged psycho was bragging about how he had the most highly rated page on FB, which of course was wrong because Obama has nearly double the followers, but either way, why is Dumpy the Con focused on how popular his FB page is? Why isn't he laser-focused on defeating the spread of this disease in the US?
o.codone
The comment section is, once again, running rampant with hatred, name calling and hostility. Fur Hunter said, "I hope he (Trump) gets the virus and dies a horrible and painful death". How does Queerty not censor that level of hatred and threat against anybody? There's also uncontrolled name calling all over this particular post, but elsewhere on Q as well. See for yourself.
Isn't it time to re-gain some control over these comments before we have the kind of total meltdown we had 2 years ago? Right now the vitriol is a 7, but let's kill it before it becomes a 10. Finally, people are *really* angry. It's time for our community to take a chill pill.
April 2, 2020 at 10:04am Log in to Reply
i agree, it's truly sad people think this way. I guess the second amendment doesn't apply to you if you disagree with their comments. Blame game & name calling. I have the right to express my opinion knowing people will disagree. I do not name call or degrade anyone. I ignore the ignorant as I answer to no one. They can continue this tear down approach as they also have this right.
Cam,, This is for you since I do not have the option to reply after your comments. You can call me all names & have opinions of me because this is your right. But let me state a fact. I am & was not not a Trump supporter. I'm also not a pearl clutching right winger either. I have criticized him strongly as well as many politicians on both sides when they're telling untruths & being hypocritical. I do not troll, I scroll. And I subscribe to the newsletter. I just detest people when they spew so much hate. That's the only time I will respond. If you want to silence any politician, you do it at the ballot box. But, I definitely know what party lines you draw Stay safe
yaletownman
Don't even bother to defend yourself because anyone that inhabits the intelligent universe can see what you are saying. On March 10th my husband and I flew to Kauai to meet friends from Vancouver. At that time we weren't totally comfortable about going. Most doctors were saying to wash your hands and wipe things down and traveling would be ok. The entire trip was anxiety ridden and each day we watched the tourist population on the island cut itself in half until we too changed our flight and went home early. The Marriott we were staying in had been contacted that the first case in Kauai had stayed at our hotel and left the day we arrived. By the time we returned to San Francisco shelter in place was going into effect.
My point is that we made the decision to go and we already knew that we we were at least playing with matches. We are now through the incubation period and its been a very anxious to say the least.
The attacks on your posts expose a huge problem in this country that goes beyond right/left. It's extremism that rests on both sides of the fence. Extremist thinking with all that it entails. No critical thinking. No intelligence and plenty of victimhood. Everyone knows that Trump has done plenty to botch this up but when we have people on our side displaying the same traits they claim they are better than from the other side of the political spectrum we won't need to wonder why come November and he gets four more years. How can we ever expect to oust this president when those in the middle that we need to come to our side say that the left looks as backward, ignorant and extreme as the right because they actually are?
Like my grandad used to say they which appears opposite is often times just a different colour of the same old b*llshit'
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