COVID-19 Surges In Rural Communities, Overwhelming Some Local Hospitals

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Rural communities in the U.S. were largely spared in the early months of the pandemic. Now, they're experiencing some of the country's worst outbreaks. 'Rural is not a refuge,' one public expert says.

Rural communities across the country, places largely spared during the early days of the pandemic, are now seeing spikes in infections and hospitalizations.Daniel Acker/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Rural communities across the country, places largely spared during the early days of the pandemic, are now seeing spikes in infections and hospitalizations.As the coronavirus outbreak surges across the country, many rural communities — places which were largely spared during the early months of the pandemic — are now seeing an unprecedented spike in infections and hospitalizations.

The pandemic's grip on rural America is especially alarming because many of these less populated areas rely on small hospitals, which don't have the beds or staff to absorb a crush of patients, especially those who require high levels of care. In early September, the rate of new infections per capita started climbing quickly in the country's most rural counties reaching what are now record levels — significantly higher than what is being seen in the major urban areas,There is a similar trend in smaller metro areas, although not quite as dramatic.a professor at the University of Iowa College of Public Health and director of the Rural Policy Research Institute.

In the Midwest, cases have climbed on average nearly 60% over the past two weeks, compared to 35% nationally. And across the country, most non-metropolitan counties

 

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V2019N Maine is a rural state following the strict guidance of CDC epidemic protocols; masks, test, trace,isolate (enforced) following every new case. They have kept extremely low numbers even though they are only one hour from Massachusetts which had the third highest surge in Spring

V2019N Shocking. Nobody (except many of us) called that.

The rural towns around me include a lot of people not wearing masks. They look at me & my daughter as odd when I go to my mom's and stop at the gas station or corner store.

This is kind of intellectually dishonest - they weren’t spared, it just came to the cities first. They had extra time to learn from that and respond, and they gleefully refused. My hometown in eastern WA still won’t enforce masks or social distancing. This was a policy choice.

Also this is from rural Nevada a few weeks ago

rappublicist Support my music trying to bring awareness to in invisible diseases You Hooked - Just10 Tyson

BidenScandal WheresHunter

We saw this coming!

'Isn't it ironic?' Alanis 'Trump Names VP Mike Pence to Lead Coronavirus Response 'President Trump sought to reassure the country that his government was controlling the spread of the coronavirus' Feb. 26, 2020

Isn't all the rural areas a bunch of Trump supporters? Hopefully they all end up isolated and sick so they can't vote!

Note that article doesn’t have any concrete data or examples, just the usual “number of cases” and speculative “what if” scenarios.

Ruralists' illusion of safety from pandemics is as powerful as it is false, whether as present as the covid virus or the far-fetched zombie apocalypse.

Unfortunately my experience in rural areas is they acted like the virus wouldn't affect them. No masks or social distancing protocols were used. It is unfortunate.

Not very shocking that a communicable disease spreads from Uber populated areas to rural areas.

If any American, facing down any American problem, believes that they can hide from it any where, they are being selfish. We have all felt overwhelmed and sought refuge at times, but the faster WE ALL help to remedy our issues, the faster they will cease to be.

Missouri recently voted to expand Medicaid. The selling point was that it would keep the rural hospitals open. It was the cities that passed it. In the cities, we have a lot of hospitals, but we voted to help the rural communities. Rural communities voted to screw themselves.

It could have been if they took it seriously.

Yeah, well, my rural community is full of big city folks trying to escape the restrictions. They hope in the car and go for a drive to get some fresh air, but eventually they stop to shop, get some gas and a bite to eat...and spread their Covid to the Country Folks!

I wonder if Trump’s clarion call that it isn’t serious had anything to do with it?

If Trump and the GOP had initiated social distancing protocols from the beginning, it's likely that the pandemic would never have reached most rural areas. VoteRed and you may end up dead.

Are you nuts? Look at hospitalizations and deaths. Rural areas have more cases now because they're finally being tested in large numbers. Most of these 'new' positives probably had it months ago and never even noticed.

While her hospital has two dozen beds, Vilhauer says it can only staff about six to eight beds at a time and doesn't have a respiratory therapist who can manage seriously ill COVID-19 patients.

And this is how this pandemic keeps simmering. No mask mandate, because, you know, freedom, and we will be in this situation probably until herd immunity occurs, maybe 10 yrs from now. All because of the trump administration politicizing it all.

So when I drove up to rural northern PA for hiking/backpacking trips this summer and was mocked for wearing a mask, nor did I see people wearing them, it’s my fault for taking refuge? Got it.

There's another motorcycle rally being held near here and next week they will travel through here on their way home to other states. Churches are open again. Weddings are being held. Some people don't think there is a pandemic. It will have to hit a hard home run to wake them up.

It’s hard to feel sorry for these rural communities. Many of them have whole heartedly supported Trump, denied facts & science, poo poohed mask wearing, questioned the seriousness of COVID & now the chickens have come home to roost. The thing is viruses don’t discriminate!

Can't speak for all areas, but here, people don't take the pandemic seriously. No one enforces mask laws and you're openly mocked for wearing one. It's a very right leaning area politically. As the election gets closer, people have become more antagonistic and closed minded.

SurvivingTrump

Dumbasses....

It was going to come sooner or later and if Trump’s team had framed it’s response in those terms - it’s not hitting you now but will so prepare, wear masks, make a plan...Well that’s the core problem isn’t it?

No shit. It's a bloody virus! Everyone will tend to get it. Move along.

...and by “early months,” they mean the first nine... FlattenTheCurve

And they will experience the quickest recoveries..living so separated..just reality...

“One person actually said, 'I had COVID and it was the best thing that ever happened to me,'' she recalls. 'Who says stuff like that?' “

aca is a sham...

SEX TAPE ALREADY SCRUBBED OFF TWITTER OANN CONFIRMS that GIRL in hunterbiden SEX TAPE is 14-year-old Natalie Biden -- at 2:04 seconds when he says 'Nattie look,' then again at 2:30 in you hear her say 'I didn't know my foot could do that!' COVID19 WearAMask HuntersLapTop

In 2019 30 hospitals in the US went bankrupt. Another 42 went bankrupt up till June this year.

Lol 'It's clear that those communities with mask mandates have a more flat trajectory' Yeah right

Aren't these the same rural hospitals that are going to get closed when Republicans eliminate the affordable care act? This is what these rural voters voted for in choosing Trump

Good! All Trump voters I presume. And Covid deniers. No different from racist, holocaust deniers. The chicken WILL come home to roost

What do psychiatrists think of Trump? Many think he’s, to use the technical term, nuts. His mental state not Biden's, is the real concern, mental health professionals say.“ Trump’s cognitive decline or problems are that he doesn’t even seem to have comprehension of reality.'

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