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Over the past month, as urban areas fought for their lives,
过去一个月，由于各大城市地区纷纷掀起了生存之战，
the virus was spreading outward to the least populated counties:
病毒便朝着城市之外，人口最少的郡县奔去了：
the average number of infections per capita in rural America has grown eightfold over that time,
在此期间，美国农村人均感染人数增长了足足8倍，
and as of May 13, more than two-thirds of the smallest counties had at least one case.
截至5月13日，出现了至少一例确诊病例的小县已经占到了全国小县的2/3以上。
In the rural heartland, COVID-19 threatens a particularly vulnerable group of people:
农村腹地一个格外脆弱的群体由此受到了新冠肺炎的威胁，
an older, poorer population with access to fewer hospital facilities and medical staff.
这个群体就是相对贫穷，接触医疗设备及医务人员的机会也较小的老年群体。
Overall, 18 million people live in counties that have hospitals but no ICU,
就全国来看，美国有1800万人都生活在有医院但没有ICU（重症监护室）的郡县地区，
and about a quarter of those people are over the age of 60.
这1800万人中约有1/4的人年龄都在60岁以上。
In Nebraska, 81 counties don't have a single ICU bed,
内布拉斯加州有81个县连一张ICU床位都没有，
and quarantining even a few nurses or doctors could quickly leave hospitals and clinics with no medical professionals at all.
即便只有几个医生或护士被隔离也会导致很多医院或诊所完全失去专业的医护人员。
A recent analysis mapping the nationwide burden of COVID-19 by scientists at Princeton University
普林斯顿大学的科学家最近的一项分析就新冠肺炎给全国各地的卫生系统造成的压力绘制了一张图表，
concluded that the danger of overwhelmed health systems now "may be highest away from major population centers."
结论是，现在已经不堪重负的卫生系统所面临的危险“可能是主要人口中心之外的其他地方面临的最大风险。”
So far, help from the federal government in both money and guidance has been spotty, and rural health officials like Engel are worried.
截至目前，联邦政府在资金和指导方面给予各地的帮助时好时坏，这一问题也引起了恩格尔等农村卫生官员的担忧。
More than a dozen local health officials in rural regions and smaller cities tell TIME
有十几名农村地区和小城市的卫生官员都对《时代》周刊表示，
they are struggling to convince their communities to keep businesses shuttered and avoid social contact
说服当地社区停工停产，避免社交接触的工作十分艰难，
where the threat doesn't yet feel real and some local politicians are arguing it is overblown.
因为当地并未真正感受到新冠病毒的威胁，加之当地的部分政客认为新冠病毒的威胁存在夸大嫌疑。
"Now the public is saying, ‘Who do we trust?'"
“现在大家都在说，‘那我们到底该相信谁？’”
says Carol Moehrle, the director of the Idaho North Central District's public-health department.
爱达荷州北部中心区公共卫生部门的主任卡罗尔·莫尔说。
"Some of our politicians are saying this isn't even real, or that this is over.
“我们有一些政客要么就是说新冠病毒根本就不是真的，要么就是说疫情现在已经结束了。
Do we trust them or public health?"
我们是该相信他们，还是该相信公共卫生？”
ManguM, Okla., has already learned the hard way how untouched areas of the country remain one traveler away from becoming a hot spot.
俄克拉荷马州的曼古姆地区就已痛苦地认识到，一个过客如何就能引爆一个原本没有受到疫情影响的地区。
After a Tulsa pastor visited to preach to a congregation on March 15,
3月15日，就在塔尔萨的一名牧师前往当地给会众布道后，
some of the people he interacted with contracted the virus, a state investigation found.
俄克拉荷马州调查时就发现，他接触过的一些人已经感染了新冠病毒。
Three days after his visit, the 55-year-old pastor became the first Oklahoman to die from COVID-19.
三天后，这位55岁的牧师成了俄克拉荷马州首位死于新冠肺炎的居民。
By then, a growing number of infections was quickly spreading among Mangum's 2,700 residents.
截至当时，疫情已经在曼古姆地区的2700名居民中迅速蔓延开来。
Five weeks later, 31 patients and 21 staff members in the town's only nursing home had contracted the virus, and five had died.
五周后，该镇唯一一家养老院的31名患者和21名工作人员均已感染，还有5人已经死亡。
It could have been worse, if the town's leaders had not moved quickly.
如果该镇的领导没有迅速采取行动，情况可能还会更糟。
译文由可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载。
