COVID hasn’t hit these 4 Texas counties, where ‘social distancing is kind of the norm’
Whether it’s fashion trends or fresh groceries or airborne disease, things traditionally take longer to reach Borden County, if they make it at all. It’s located in the middle of a triangle formed by Abilene, Midland and Lubbock, all of which are between 70 and 100 miles away. The county seat, Gail, is a no-Walmart, no-Dairy Queen, no-bank town.
And it has also been, for the last five months and counting, a no-coronavirus town. Borden County has zero confirmed cases among its residents, as of Aug. 3. “We’ve been very fortunate, very blessed,” County Judge Ross Sharp said. “I guess that’s what comes when you’re one of the smallest counties in the state as far as population goes. Maybe you can enjoy this a little longer.”
As August begins, Borden is joined by Loving, Sterling and King counties as coronavirus-free. They’re all in West Texas and, with populations of fewer than 1,300, have managed to avoid the diagnoses that even comparably small Texas counties have sustained. On April 15, 70 Texas counties had zero confirmed cases, and on June 1 the number was still 23. Now, 250 out of 254 counties have at least one resident who has officially been infected with the virus.
Diana Cervantes, a professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at University of North Texas Health Science Center, has assisted rural areas with public health initiatives. She said places like Loving, Sterling, Borden and King counties are essentially closed populations where interaction with outsiders is limited. “If you’re talking about such a small group of people that tend to usually keep to themselves and be in tight-knit groups how are you going to have that virus transmitted?”
Sharp put it this way: “We’ve got 900 square miles of county and we’ve got about 640 people, so social distancing is kind of the norm around here.”
To combat the virus, Borden County residents have tried to keep social gatherings outside this summer, and restaurants Coyote Country Store and The Blue Paw have spaced out tables. Coyote Country Store, also a well-known music venue, canceled concerts that were expected to draw hundreds if not thousands of people.
Masks are not mandated in Borden County because of its low case count, although various establishments require them. Residents say masks have not assumed the political culture war characteristics seen in Tarrant County and elsewhere in Texas, perhaps because of the close relationships they have with their neighbors.
“I wear it if it requires us to wear it, and I think that’s how most folks in Gail are taking it,” said Clay Vickers, owner of Gail’s Coyote Country Radio. “We’re going to respect everyone else and do our best to keep it outside of our community.” He spoke over the phone on a Thursday night in late July while his family visited another family for swimming and grilling.
But the feelings of relative normalcy have coexisted with concerns about COVID-19. Trips for groceries and supplies in hard-hit Lubbock provide regular reminders of the pandemic. There have also been several close calls among Gail residents. On July 17, an alert notified the county that several nonresident workers on a solar construction project in Borden County had tested positive for coronavirus. And the sheriff and deputy both feared exposure in July after arresting a person who was found to have a 101-degree temperature, Sharp said. They stayed home from work for five days, until results from coronavirus tests came back negative.
And being small and remote doesn’t guarantee the prevention of virus spread. The list of counties with cases includes the three Texas counties bordering Loving, which had 287 cases among them, as of Aug 3. Kenedy County, located along the Gulf Coast with a population of 417, had six cases and one death. McMullen County, pop. 778, had eight cases.
In these tiny counties, a handful of infections can be a threat given the scarce medical resources. Gail doesn’t have a hospital or clinic, let alone a physician. The closest thing the town has to medical personnel are a school nurse and a volunteer EMS, Sharp said.
Loving County, despite having no cases among residents, had to isolate an out-of-towner with COVID in late July. He was Jacob Jones, the 29-year-old son of county judge Skeet Lee Jones. Jacob, who works in the housing maintenance department at Dallas Baptist University, came to Loving County after testing positive in Dallas. “We put him on a campsite out on a ranch, and he’s quarantined,” Jones said.
Loving County, pop. 169, is the smallest county in Texas, but it grows exponentially during work hours. Jones can see the steady traffic of thousands of oil and gas workers on County Road 300 from the porch of his ranch house. These workers stop at convenience stores and eat at the food trucks that have sprung up in the county seat of Mentone in recent years. Some 500 oil workers, nearly five times the county’s population, reside in a man camp in Loving County. “If there was one (worker) that just came in hot, I’d be concerned,” Jones said. “But the man camps have been doing a good job of screening people.”
Outsiders, whether they come into small counties for work, recreation or family, disrupt the closed population setting and increase the risk of virus transmission. And Borden County, mostly spared from visitors since April, will open its school system later this month. It serves 200 or so K-12 students, many of whom reside in neighboring counties.
Julie Smith, who has worked as a Texas A&M Agrilife extension agent in Gail for 24 years, believes it will be safe for her 11-year-old son to attend school. She also believes her son needs the interaction. The summer is normally stocked with baseball and basketball leagues and 4-H outings for children. The events were either canceled or held online because of the pandemic.
This belief in the importance of the school year is shared throughout Gail. The school system, home of the Coyotes, is the pride of Borden County and one of its biggest employers. To recruit and retain staff, the district provides free housing and utilities. Trey Richey, a math teacher and the longtime Borden County High School football coach, likens the atmosphere to a “private public school” where successful student outcomes are the norm. One of his children who graduated from Borden County High School is training to become a physical therapist in Lubbock. His college-aged daughter is living at home for the summer while completing a remote internship with PwC.
Richey’s football team was slated to start practice Monday, and games for 1A schools like Borden County can begin in late August. Vickers, who broadcasts sporting events on Coyote Country Radio, said getting back on the air for the first Coyote football game will “be the most normal thing I’ve felt in a while.”
That is, if Borden County’s good fortune continues. Even discussing the coronavirus has made Vickers a little nervous. “You’re not supposed to talk about a no-hitter,” he said, “when you’re throwing a no-hitter.”
This story was originally published August 4, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
