For Months, a Rural Kansas Community Watched the Covid-19 Pandemic Unfold from Afar. Then, a Deadly Outbreak Landed Right on Their Doorstep

When Covid-19 cases began climbing in the fall within Norton County, Kansas, the administrator of a local nursing home used the facility's Facebook page to send residents reminders.

An early September post on the Andbe Home's page urged visitors to "PLEASE PLEASE follow the guidelines," including maintaining a distance of six feet and wearing a mask at all times, "not just in front of us."

Three weeks later, while the county's number of infections crept upward, the home went into lockdown. "It is our responsibility to protect our residents and I feel with an increase in active cases we need to take this unfortunate step," Megan Mapes, the administrator, wrote on October 2.

Five days later, the home announced its first positive resident. By mid-October, Andbe Home had a "full COVID outbreak," Mapes said on Facebook.

Every single one of the 61 residents in the home tested positive for the virus. At least 21 have since died of Covid-19, according to Mapes.

"When we started to see some of our people passing away from this, I mean, that really hit us hard," says Reva Benien, a lifelong Norton resident. "People that we grew up with, that were family friends or church members." Read More 

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Masks Mandates Worked to Slow the Spread of Covid-19 in Kansas, CDC Research Shows