After dodging the worst of COVID-19, rural areas of Minnesota are 'lit up with cases'

Rates there now rising faster than in metro

Oct 26, 20200

Leila Navidi – Star Tribune count

Jeanne Tippery, right, a retired nurse from Houston who works part-time at Bauer's Market in La Crescent, served apple samples to customer Pam Black of La Crescent, a fellow retired nurse. "Now I know people who have COVID," said Tippery, who said that was not the case a few months ago. "People need to take it seriously or it's never going to go away," said Black.

LA CRESCENT, MINN. – Juggling waitressing and motherhood one morning last week at Kaddy's Kafe, Amy Jore had one eye on her customers and another on her 10-year-old son, Henry, as he tackled his homework in the restaurant's storeroom.

It's a balancing act forced on Jore by COVID-19, which is rapidly spreading across the countryside near this southeastern Minnesota river town and which prompted the temporary closing of Henry's school.

"My main concern is the lack of control we have as people of the community, and the lack of protection I can provide for my family," Jore said. "This has had an impact on my family - financially, mentally, emotionally."

https://www.startribune.com/after-dodging-the-worst-of-covid-19-rural-areas-of-minnesota-are-lit-up-with-cases/572857761/