Gaslighting is when someone lies to convince you of something they know is not true. The people who are telling you these things do not feel the same way about COVID as you. You are not being gaslit. You are being confronted with a perspective different than your own.
I think it’s kind of obtuse to conflate someone who spreads misinformation as a form of abusive control over another person with someone who spreads misinformation because they’re uninformed. Ignorance is harmful but this is one thing where I think intent matters.
Like you're completely correct here, but it's a little tone deaf and rude to try and correct OP on this when they're venting about being upset and seeking advice
You're correct but in this specific scenario it's useless to argue semantics of whether it's gaslighting or not because OP is upset about the content of the others' statements, not the intentions, and asking how others deal when presented with the same incorrect information about COVID
People can be angry for all kinds of reasons. If you prove to someone that failing to mask indoors in public kills people, and that person gets angry, it’s because they know that they’re killing people deep down and they don’t want to hear the truth from you since it’s embarrassing.