Rural Americans invented social distancing. This is especially true in rural Nebraska, where it isn’t unusual to drive 30 miles or more to the next town. Or, for those who live on farms or ranches, who have neighbors that live beyond our line of sight.
We are not the first to say that America’s farmers are already “working from home.”
So we have a head start on many of our urban counterparts in adapting to some of the measures we must take in the fight against the coronavirus, COVID-19. Some of our natural tendencies are going to serve us well. Let’s choose to look at it that way.
Because we’re going to need to commit to social distancing. Not just as a country lifestyle, but as a critically important public health measure. COVID-19 is real. Although we in rural Nebraska may have had a grace period, compared to places like Seattle, and New York, it is coming. In fact, for too many of us, it’s already here in our small towns and critical access hospitals.
But so is planting and calving season, any day now. We want those who need to be, out there working. Healthy. Thus, we need to do everything we can, now, to slow the spread of this disease.
It’s true, it seems that some people can have COVID-19 without even knowing it, and others have mild symptoms. But that’s part of what makes COVID-19 so dangerous — anyone who has it could infect up to three other people without even realizing.
And for some, it can knock you flat on your back, requiring hospitalization, and significant medical intervention for two weeks or more. That means specialty medical equipment and health care workers, both of which may be in short supply in rural areas.
Everything we are doing is for our children and grandchildren. And for our parents and grandparents. If you aren’t scared of getting it, please be safe to protect the next person down the line.
The next month or so is going to be a tough challenge. But, rural Nebraskans have been social distancing for more than 150 years.
It doesn’t have to mean social isolation, as it did for our forefathers. We can check in with neighbors and loved ones. Pick up the phone and call. Wave into the windows at the nursing home. Start a group text instead of going to the coffee shop.
This potentially deadly virus spreads like wildfire. But it’s killed by simple soap and water, and by staying more than six feet apart. These are tough times, but we have a head start. Rural Nebraska invented social distancing. Let’s show the rest of the world how it’s done.
Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D., is chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the University of Nebraska at Omaha.
We are Nebraska Medicine and UNMC. Our mission is to lead the world in transforming lives to create a healthy future for all individuals and communities through premier educational programs, innovative research and extraordinary patient care.
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