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THE ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2020
Virus seems a distant threat in rural US
Some states begin opening
By MATTHEW BROWN
and AMY BETH HANSON
Associated Press
ROUNDUP, Mont. — Traffi c got a lit-
tle busier along Main Street, but otherwise,
it was hard to tell that coronavirus restric-
tions were ending in the tiny Montana town
of Roundup.
That’s because it’s largely business as
usual in the town of 1,800 people. Nones-
sential stores could reopen as a statewide
shutdown ended this week, but most shops
in Roundup — the pharmacy, the hardware
store, two small grocers — were essential
and never closed.
A fl orist and a thrift shop reopened Mon-
day, apparently two of the only stores that
had to shut down at all. Bars and restaurants
remain shuttered and getting takeout is still
the only option until May 4, when they can
open with restrictions.
Parts of the U.S. are starting to lift clo-
sures, and some of the quickest to do so have
been rural states like Montana, Vermont and
Alaska. The effects of the pandemic in small
towns can seem a world away from cit-
ies grappling with overwhelmed hospitals,
packed morgues and economies pushed to
the brink.
The consequences of easing restrictions in
rural communities won’t be fully known for
some time, and health offi cials said they will
be watching for a resurgence of infections.
But for now, there’s little doubt in places
like Roundup that it was the right thing to do
after weekslong stay-at-home orders.
“We don’t have the fear of the virus. It’s
been more concern about our shut-ins and
older people who can’t come out,” said
Shannon Thompson, who works in the deli
at Picchioni’s IGA supermarket and has two
sons home with school still canceled.
The coronavirus is largely a distant threat
that so far has touched few people here
directly. Face masks are a novelty, and greet-
ings often still come with a handshake.
Despite some grumbling that the lock-
down was too harsh, most people cooper-
ated, county commissioner Adam Carlson
said.
Thompson said she practices social dis-
tancing and “we’re all doing what we’re
supposed to do.”
By contrast, in some rural parts of states
where stay-at-home orders remain in place,
local leaders have pledged defi ance. The
mayor of Grants, New Mexico, population
9,000, led a rally Monday where dozens
urged nonessential businesses to reopen.
Matthew Brown/AP Photo
Nicole Snider opens the Northern Treasure thrift store on Monday in Roundup.
‘NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE, THIS IS A DANGEROUS
VIRUS. THE RISK IS LOW, BUT IF SOMETHING TAKES
OFF IN RURAL AMERICA, IT COULD BE DEVASTATING.’
Dr. Marc Mentel | president of the Montana Medical Association
Only a fraction of people in the state have
been infected by COVID-19, and it doesn’t
make sense to keep small businesses closed,
Mayor Martin “Modey” Hicks said. New
Mexico has almost 3,000 confi rmed cases of
the virus and 110 deaths.
“The governor is killing the state over
a little bug,” he said before heading to the
city-owned golf course, where about 20 peo-
ple were playing despite a warning by state
police for the facility to close.
For most, the coronavirus causes mild
or moderate symptoms, such as fever and
cough. For some, especially older people
and those with existing health problems,
it can cause more severe illness, including
pneumonia and death.
In California, six rural counties with a
combined 500,000 people asked Gov. Gavin
Newsom on Monday if they could begin a
“careful and phased reopening,” even as
counties in the San Francisco Bay Area
moved to extend their stay-at-home orders
through May.
Newsom said Tuesday that for now local
governments can adopt only stricter, not
looser, measures than the state’s plan.
In small Alaska towns, some restaurants
resumed dine-in service Friday, while shops,
personal care services and other nonessen-
tial businesses reopened with limits. Rules
still restrict how many people can be in a
shop at once, and no waiting is allowed in
salons.
In Vermont, people can shop at outdoor
retailers, and fi ve people can work at the
same outdoor worksite. Manufacturing and
indoor construction also can expand.
Mike MacLeod, who owns a garden cen-
ter just south of the resort town of Stowe,
said the phone began ringing within min-
utes of the governor’s announcement Friday
loosening the restrictions.
“People are getting into their gardens,” he
said. “One of the things they can do is work
on the gardens and beautify their houses.”
Being remote and sparsely populated
helps towns avoid infections, said Dr. Marc
Mentel, president of the Montana Medical
Association.
Yet a rural ZIP code is no magic shield
and carries its own disadvantage: fewer
medical resources. That can make outbreaks
diffi cult to contain, such as the infections
that swept through an assisted living facil-
ity in recent weeks in another small Montana
town, Shelby, leading to six deaths.
“No matter where you are, this is a dan-
gerous virus,” Mentel said. “The risk is low,
but if something takes off in rural America,
it could be devastating.”
Gov. Steve Bullock credits an early lock-
down with pushing down Montana’s infec-
tion rate and helping it reopen before other
states.
“That’s what got us to this point, more
than the rural nature of our state,” the Dem-
ocratic governor said Monday.
Montana has one of the nation’s lowest
per capita death rates from the virus. The
rate of confi rmed infections has declined
since peaking at 124 cases a week in late
March and early April. There were 15 new
cases last week, health offi cials said.
But not every business is throwing open
its doors.
In Montana’s capital of Helena, the Lasso
the Moon toy store was open, but its doors
were locked. Customers had to knock to be
let in, up to four at a time, as long as they
were wearing masks.
Owner Amy Barrett said the door is
locked to give employees time to don masks.
Her wariness refl ected the uncertainty of
many small-business owners allowed to
reopen.
“We’re still unsure quite how open to be,”
Barrett said. “I don’t know how many peo-
ple are going to want to come in.”
Associated Press writers Wilson Ring in
Montpelier, Vermont, and Russell Contreras
in Grants, New Mexico, contributed to this
report.
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