Rural areas in Kansas are seeing large spikes in coronavirus cases, and Gove County in the state’s northwest has been among the hardest hit.
The virus is stressing the county despite arriving late. Sheriff Allan Weber caught it last week and struggled to breathe. He landed in an acute-care hospital room more than an hour from home. Most of the local nursing home residents have tested positive, and six have died since late September.
The county’s emergency management director, the hospital CEO and more than 50 medical staff have tested positive. Local officials and doctors say they had 88 new cases in two weeks.