DUFUR, Ore. (AP) — The social distancing rules repeated like a mantra in America's urban centers, where the coronavirus is spreading exponentially, might seem silly in wide-open places where neighbors live miles apart and working from home means another day branding calves or driving a tractor alone through a field.
But as the pandemic spreads across the nation, those living in rural areas, too, are increasingly threatened. Tiny towns tucked into Oregon's windswept plains and cattle ranches miles from a town in South Dakota might not have had a single case of the new coronavirus, but their main streets are also empty and their medical clinics overwhelmed by the worried well.
Residents from rural Alabama to the woods of Vermont to the frozen reaches of Alaska fear the spread of the disease from outsiders, the social isolation that comes when the town's only diner closes, and economic collapse in places where jobs were already scarce.
"Nobody knows what to do and they're just running in circles, so stay away from me is what I'm saying," said Mike Filbin, a 70-year-old cattle rancher in Wasco County, Oregon, one of the few parts of the state that has yet to see a case of Covid-19.
"Right now, we're pretty clean over here, but we're not immune to nothin' — and if they start bringing it over, it'll explode here."
To make matters worse, some of the most remote communities have limited or no internet access and spotty cellphone service. That makes telecommuting and online learning challenging in an era of blanket school and work closures, and it eliminates the possibility of the FaceTime card games and virtual cocktail hours that urban Americans have turned to in droves to stay connected.
The routine ways that rural Americans connect — a bingo night, stopping in at a diner or attending a potluck — are suddenly taboo.
"Rural people are reliant on their neighbors and have more confidence and trust in their neighbors," said Ken Johnson, a senior demographer at the Carsey School of Public Policy and professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire.
"Now you have people who are supposed to self-isolate themselves. What does that mean when people you depend on, in order to help you, are going to put themselves and their families at risk? I don't know what that will do in rural America."
Neil Bradshaw, the mayor of Ketchum, Idaho, is starting to see the answer in his own community.
The rural resort town has struggled since the arrival of Covid-19, and he fears if the virus lingers long, it could devastate it. The town made famous by Ernest Hemingway is next door to the tony skiing destination Sun Valley Resort and is a second-home haven for dozens of celebrities.
It's also become the epicenter of Idaho's caseload, with at least reported 35 cases and community spread of the virus. At least 14 of the cases are among health care workers, forcing the town to bring in replacement staffers from nearby cities.
As in Colorado, tourists to ski towns are believed to have played a role in bringing the disease to a rural, but relatively densely populated paradise. Colorado has reported 912 Covid-19 cases as of Wednesday, with 11 deaths. Idaho has reported 91 with no deaths yet.
