In Texas, Two Places with Very Different COVID-19 Stories
2020-08-10
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1For most of his life, Ross Sharp has lived in Borden County in north Texas.
2Sharp said there are no strangers here.
3"I like the people. It's home," said Sharp.
4He started a family here and never left.
5Fewer than 700 people live in Borden County.
6About 40 percent of them live in the small town of Gail.
7Sharp has worked as a maintenance supervisor at the Borden County schools for 30 years.
8He is now a county judge.
9Sharp has a strong reason to feel good about the place.
10No one in the county has caught COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.
11However, Sharp knows that Texas has one of the largest numbers of COVID-19 cases.
12It has more than 400,000 confirmed cases and nearly 8,000 deaths.
13"A neighboring town 75 miles (120 kilometers) away in a week could infect your whole county population," Sharp said.
14Cows and oil are the county's two biggest businesses.
15Sharp said the high quality of its schools is a reason people want to live in the county.
16More than 50 percent of the students come from outside Borden County.
17"That's probably one of the major areas of concern for me is a school starting up," he said.
18High school student Austin Buchanan is worried about the coming school year.
19For two months this spring, his classes were all online because of restrictions aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus.
20He does not know what to expect for this school year.
21"This being my final year of high school, I want everything to be the way it's supposed to be, and COVID has definitely affected that," Buchanan said.
22Richard Buchanan, Austin's father and his math teacher, said he hopes students will attend classes in person.
23He said it is important for student to be together "because you might not see...your friends ever, you know, living 20 miles (32 kilometers) from school and on a farm," Richard Buchanan said.
24Borden County's farm life may have kept its people free from coronavirus.
25"We weren't around lots of people every day.
26Some people think it's a burden, and lately it's been a blessing," Richard Buchanan said.
27Although there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Gail, life has changed.
28Many people in Gail wear face coverings when they go to other towns, even to the nearest food store 50 kilometers away.
29In the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas, things are very different for Veronica Gonzalez.
30Although many stores in the U.S. have been closed, her flower store is doing well because COVID-19 is "increasing our business, unfortunately."
31"We've got funeral sprays to deliver tomorrow," said Gonzalez, whose shop is very near the U.S.-Mexico border.
32Gonzalez lives in Roma, a Texas border town with about 12,000 people.
33The coronavirus has hit Roma badly as well as the rest of the people in Starr County.
34It is a Latino-majority county that is one of the state's poorest.
35Large, multi-generational families often live together.
36The county also has some of the highest rates of diabetes and obesity in Texas.
37People with those diseases who get COVID-19 are at a high risk of other problems or even death.
38When the coronavirus first started spreading, Starr County had very few cases. Then it "exploded," Gonzalez said.
39Starr County's battle with COVID-19 began at the end of April, when Texas started reopening its businesses.
40Then there was an increase in cases as people started to socialize more, said Dr. Jose Vasquez. He is a Starr County health official.
41The area has one hospital and less than two doctors for every 10,000 people.
42In July, the county's top official announced on Facebook that doctors were going to have to decide who received treatment and who would be sent home to die.
43Vasquez said that did not happen because state and federal government officials helped.
44The Navy sent two medical teams.
45The San Antonio veterans' hospital began admitting Starr County patients.
46More than 20 people from Starr County have died of COVID-19.
47Vasquez said there have been several deaths in some families.
48I'm Susan Shand.
1For most of his life, Ross Sharp has lived in Borden County in north Texas. 2Sharp said there are no strangers here. "I like the people. It's home," said Sharp. He started a family here and never left. 3Fewer than 700 people live in Borden County. About 40 percent of them live in the small town of Gail. 4Sharp has worked as a maintenance supervisor at the Borden County schools for 30 years. He is now a county judge. 5Coronavirus free 6Sharp has a strong reason to feel good about the place. No one in the county has caught COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. 7However, Sharp knows that Texas has one of the largest numbers of COVID-19 cases. It has more than 400,000 confirmed cases and nearly 8,000 deaths. 8"A neighboring town 75 miles (120 kilometers) away in a week could infect your whole county population," Sharp said. 9Cows and oil are the county's two biggest businesses. Sharp said the high quality of its schools is a reason people want to live in the county. More than 50 percent of the students come from outside Borden County. 10"That's probably one of the major areas of concern for me is a school starting up," he said. 11High school student Austin Buchanan is worried about the coming school year. For two months this spring, his classes were all online because of restrictions aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus. He does not know what to expect for this school year. 12"This being my final year of high school, I want everything to be the way it's supposed to be, and COVID has definitely affected that," Buchanan said. 13Richard Buchanan, Austin's father and his math teacher, said he hopes students will attend classes in person. 14He said it is important for student to be together "because you might not see...your friends ever, you know, living 20 miles (32 kilometers) from school and on a farm," Richard Buchanan said. 15Borden County's farm life may have kept its people free from coronavirus. 16"We weren't around lots of people every day. Some people think it's a burden, and lately it's been a blessing," Richard Buchanan said. 17Although there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Gail, life has changed. 18Many people in Gail wear face coverings when they go to other towns, even to the nearest food store 50 kilometers away. 19South Texas town 20In the Rio Grande Valley of south Texas, things are very different for Veronica Gonzalez. 21Although many stores in the U.S. have been closed, her flower store is doing well because COVID-19 is "increasing our business, unfortunately." 22"We've got funeral sprays to deliver tomorrow," said Gonzalez, whose shop is very near the U.S.-Mexico border. 23Gonzalez lives in Roma, a Texas border town with about 12,000 people. 24The coronavirus has hit Roma badly as well as the rest of the people in Starr County. It is a Latino-majority county that is one of the state's poorest. Large, multi-generational families often live together. 25The county also has some of the highest rates of diabetes and obesity in Texas. People with those diseases who get COVID-19 are at a high risk of other problems or even death. 26When the coronavirus first started spreading, Starr County had very few cases. Then it "exploded," Gonzalez said. 27The surge 28Starr County's battle with COVID-19 began at the end of April, when Texas started reopening its businesses. Then there was an increase in cases as people started to socialize more, said Dr. Jose Vasquez. He is a Starr County health official. 29The area has one hospital and less than two doctors for every 10,000 people. In July, the county's top official announced on Facebook that doctors were going to have to decide who received treatment and who would be sent home to die. 30Vasquez said that did not happen because state and federal government officials helped. The Navy sent two medical teams. The San Antonio veterans' hospital began admitting Starr County patients. 31More than 20 people from Starr County have died of COVID-19. Vasquez said there have been several deaths in some families. 32I'm Susan Shand. 33VOA's Elizabeth Lee reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Mario Ritter was the editor. 34________________________________________________________________ 35Words in This Story 36burden-n. something that is difficult to deal with, a problem 37blessing-n. something good that you are grateful for 38diabetes-n. a serious disease in which the body cannot control blood sugar 39spray-n. a group of flowers 40obesity-n. a condition in which someone is highly overweight