COVID-19 in Rural Counties

[razz]

Sounds like Canada has a different approach than many parts of US, where people are encouraged now to go out and hike the trails during the lockdown.

I guess things are different there.

Groups of people are meeting on the trails. Our shutdown is province wide. Stay home!

[dado potato]

The Ice Age Trail remains open, but all the staff now work from home. Work days for volunteers and events are canceled. Stay-at-home volunteer activities (like working on the newsletter) carries on.

While the trail is open, many of the trailhead parking areas in Wisconsin are on public land, which have been closed by order of Governor Evers.

No event is too small or too important not to cancel.

http://www.iceagetrail.org/coronavir...-ice-age-trail

[Tybee]

Here is our local National Park Guidelines. Thing like restrooms and visitors centers are closed. Some trails remain open:

Following guidance from the CDC and recommendations from state and local public health authorities in consultation with NPS Public Health Service Officers, the following facilities and services are suspended until further notice:

• All park restrooms, the Philip A. Hart Visitor Center, and the Platte River and White Pine Backcountry Campgrounds are closed.

• Where it is possible to adhere to the latest federal, state, and local health guidance, outdoor spaces will remain accessible to the public, including: all park trails and beaches.
  
• The NPS encourages people who choose to visit the national parks during this pandemic to adhere to guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and state and local public health authorities to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. As services are limited, the NPS urges visitors to continue to practice Leave No Trace principles, including pack-in and pack-out, to keep outdoor spaces safe and healthy. See more information at www.nps.gov/coronavirus.

[Gardnr]

Gardnr, bless you for saying that! I am afraid that community spread sort of lagging the cities is going to keep this going longer than it needs to. We live in Lane County, Oregon, in Florence, and so far really low numbers, but no testing available here. Local newspaper has information that there are probably seven cases here, but since we are considered rural the county can't say where. A friend has a brother who works in the emergency room locally and says there have been a lot of cases that they think are coronavirus, but no testing. Either they drive 100 miles to Springfield or go home and gut it out. It is SO FRUSTRATING.

I've been hearing from RNs on coastal OR. (I am in a FB RN group to discuss COVID). It is horrid and infuriating. I wish THIS would make national news. At least we have SOME testing.

[Yppej]

I wonder how you leave no trace if the bathrooms are locked. People will be peeing and pooping in the woods.

[Teacher Terry]

You bag your poop and carry it out just like you do for dogs. On the west coast when you hike trails there are no bathrooms. You are in the mountains.

[dado potato]

USA Today published an item on the effect of COVID-19 on rural policing.

I am not aware of any place where it has happened, but there is a risk that the virus could "wipe out" the entire police force in a rural county.

Manistee, MI, population 6,000, a fabulous place for patches of pumpkins, has a police force of 12 officers, of which, 3 tested positive and 3 others are quarantined. The Sheriff reduced the number of officers responding to calls at certain times of the day or night.

I have assumed that a local sheriff could call upon the state police force for mutual aid and support, if the number of officers locally fit for duty fell below a critical level. But I wonder now.

Vail, Colorado, Police Chief Dwight Henninger was quoted in the article: Losing an entire police force would force community members to self-police... As I understand it, every Sheriff and Deputy Sheriff swears an oath to uphold the United States Constitution and the State Constitution. When community members self-police, would they be sworn to do likewise?

[Tybee]

My dog is from Manistee. I'm sure other localities are pitching in to help them. We are very interconnected up here, and one town helps the other. Lots of small municipalities.

[Yppej]

You bag your poop and carry it out just like you do for dogs. On the west coast when you hike trails there are no bathrooms. You are in the mountains.

What about the urine?

[jp1]

What about the urine?

Not sure about other people but I use trees when I’m out hiking.