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"Not in a million years did we think this was something we'd ever be dealing with," says the town's mayor, Mary Jane Scott.
“萬萬沒想到我們也會遇到這種情況，”該鎮鎮長瑪麗·簡·斯科特說。
"We didn't think (COVID-19) was going to be that big in rural Oklahoma."
“沒想到俄克拉何馬州農村地區的(新冠疫情)也會變得這么嚴重。”
The town quickly implemented a curfew and a face-mask policy for all public spaces
據她透露，事后，該鎮很快便推出了宵禁政策以及出入所有公共場所都需佩戴口罩的政策，
and as of May 4 had no evidence of new community spread, she says.
截至5月4日，該鎮尚未出現證據表明疫情已經擴散到新的社區。
But much like the rest of the country,
問題是，和美國的很多地方一樣，
rural areas are finding it hard to stay closed, especially as many feel the worst has passed.
農村地區也發現很難維持停工停產停學這一政策，尤其因為許多人都覺得最糟糕的時期已經過去了。
Crystal Miller was at her home in Lexington, Ky., making a pot of chili on the evening of March 6 when she got the call.
3月6日晚接到電話時，克里斯托·米勒正在肯塔基州列克星敦的家中處理盆中的辣椒。
As the director of the Wedco District Health Department in northcentral Kentucky,
作為肯塔基州中北部威德科區衛生局的主任，
she had been tracking the spread of the outbreak.
她一直在跟蹤疫情的傳播情況。
But she had not expected the state's first case would appear in Harrison County,
但她還是沒有想到，肯塔基州的第一例新冠會出現在哈里森縣
a rural region of 19,000 where cows outnumber people 2 to 1.
這個人口只有1.9萬，牛的數量都比人的數量多出1倍的農村地區。
"I'll never forget that day," she says.
“我永遠也忘不了那一天，”她說。
The county's residents instinctively reacted by social distancing, weeks before it became part of the national vocabulary.
隨后，該縣居民本能地開始了隔離，等到各地都注意到這座小縣城時他們已經主動隔離了好幾周了。
Schools shut, and people avoided large gatherings and limited their shopping trips.
學校停課，居民們也告別了大型集會，連出門購物次數都會克制。
The following day, "Nobody was in the parking lot of the Walmart," Miller said.
第二天，“沃爾瑪的停車場就已經看不到人了，”米勒說。
But after more than seven weeks of closures and stay-at-home orders made the county a success story in containing the virus—
問題是，超七周的停工停產停學和居家隔離政策使得該縣成了控制疫情的成功范例——
16 cases and no deaths—caution has given way to economic pressure.
16例確診，0例死亡——之后，謹慎就開始讓位于經濟壓力了。
"People want to do the right thing, but in this area of Kentucky people are frustrated
“人們是想做正確的事，但肯塔基州這個地區的人已經開始有情緒了，
and are starting to think, 'Haven't we flattened the curve enough?'" Miller says.
大家已經開始問，‘我們把曲線拉得還不夠平么？’“米勒說。
In some rural parts of the country, the push to reopen is snarled in politics.
在部分農村地區，重新開放的愿望甚至已經卷入政治紛爭。
Idaho Republican Governor Brad Little issued a stay-at-home order on March 25.
愛達荷州的共和黨州長布拉德·利特爾于3月25日發布了居家隔離命令。
By then, Blaine County, home to the Sun Valley ski resort, had become a coronavirus hot spot,
截至當時，太陽谷滑雪場所在的布萊恩縣就已經成了新冠病毒的熱點地區，
at one point exceeding the infection rates of New York City and shutting down the local hospital.
甚至一度超過紐約市的感染率，當地醫院都關停了。
But it didn't take long for some of the state's antigovernment rural population to push back.
然而，沒過多久，該州反政府的農村人口就發起了反擊。
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