Gove County, Monument Rocks, aka The Chalk Pyramids [View all]

Andy Tsubasa Field and John Hanna, Associated Press/report For America
Updated 11:06 pm CDT, Wednesday, Octoer 14, 2020

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — As rural northwestern Kansas communities endured some of the state's biggest spikes in COVID-19 cases last week, a county sheriff who was among those testing positive found himself struggling to breathe and landed in a hospital room more than an hour from home.

The pandemic arrived late, but it's now stressing Gove County, which has had to send patients including Sheriff Allan Weber to hospitals in other towns. The county's 22-bed medical center only has a handful of beds dedicated to coronavirus patients and not enough staff to monitor the most serious cases around the clock.

The local nursing home had most of its 30-plus residents test positive, and six have died since late September. Besides the sheriff, the county's emergency management director, the hospital CEO and more than 50 medical staff have tested positive. Even so, some leaders are reluctant to stir up ill will by talking about how often friends and neighbors wear masks or questioning how officials responded.

“The hospital has a sales tax initiative that's on the ballot, and we just don’t want to upset anybody,” said David Caudill, chief executive officer of the Gove County Medical Center, who tested positive for the virus. The medical center includes both the community hospital and nursing home.

More:
https://www.mrt.com/news/article/COVID-spike-arrives-late-hits-hard-in-rural-15649092.php

COVID spike arrives late, hits hard in rural Kansas county