Southern Minnesota county becomes unlikely coronavirus hotbed

FAIRMONT, MINN. – Eugene Borchardt hadn’t traveled anywhere exotic in the last weeks of his life. The healthy 88-year-old waved to neighbors while taking his daily walks outside or in the local mall. He drank coffee with friends at restaurants in town. He went to the grocery store and to church and honored fellow military veterans at funerals, as he always had.

His family isn’t sure exactly where he picked up the insidious novel coronavirus in a farming county of fewer than 20,000 residents.

https://www.startribune.com/2-residents-of-rural-martin-county-die-of-covid-19/569239942/