Many rural communities in the U.S. that watched the coronavirus unfold in far-away cities are now experiencing the crisis first hand.

More than two-thirds of rural counties have confirmed at least one case, with one in 10 reporting at least one death.
https://nyti.ms/2XkqTE1 

Coronavirus illnesses and deaths are still overwhelmingly concentrated in cities and suburbs, but they are growing fast in rural areas.

In fact, the rate of infection in rural areas more than doubled in less than a week. https://nyti.ms/3aV3f5a 

Farming and manufacturing towns that barely had a confirmed case a week ago are now reporting people dying from the coronavirus. Indian reservations, which grapple with high poverty and inadequate medical services, are confronting soaring numbers of cases. https://nyti.ms/3aV3f5a 

In Mangum, Oklahoma, a town of 6,000, 3 people have died from the virus and 26 residents tested positive for Covid-19 — one of the highest infection rates in rural America.

The city now has an emergency shelter-in-place order and curfew — just like larger cities around the U.S.

Nurses and doctors, scarce in rural communities at normal times, are calling out sick and being quarantined. The loss of 120 rural hospitals over the past decade has left many towns defenseless against the coronavirus, and more hospitals are closing as the pandemic spreads.

The financial strain of gearing up to fight the coronavirus has put added pressure on cash-strapped rural hospitals, forcing some to close altogether https://nyti.ms/3aV3f5a 

Read our full report on the rise in coronavirus cases in rural communities in the U.S., and why many doctors, community leaders and health experts worry that they will have too few hospital beds, ventilators and nurses to handle the crisis https://nyti.ms/3aV3f5a