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Medical expert says rural communities are not immune to coronavirus

Most rural communities in the Midwest have yet to see a case of the coronavirus.

But Dr. Jeffrey Gold, chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, says it probably just a matter of time.

“Experience in other parts of the United States, and certainly in other parts of the world—as you look at Italy, South Korea, Australia, Western Europe—this is a disease that has affected all of the rural communities, as well as the urban communities,” Gold says. “It just take a longer time.”

Gold points out that the coronavirus mortality rates are much higher for those over 70, “and, unfortunately, many of farmers and ranchers are of the older age groups”.

Gold participated in a webinar on COVID-19 and Rural Health sponsored by Nebraska Farm Bureau.