Vox Populi:

I’d warned them.

In early March we had the first three cases of corona virus in Iowa, pinpointed to Johnson county where I live in the middle of the largest Amish settlement west of the Mississippi River. Soon, we knew that the cases had come to us from people who had gone on a cruise ship vacation sponsored by a local bank. Everyone assumed that the cases were in Iowa City, our largest city with a population of 75,000, but friends who were linked into the public health system warned me that the positive cases were closer to me in the southern rural areas of the county.

I began taking precautions, staying at home, cancelling a camping trip with friends, washing my hands frequently, especially when I had to make trips to the grocery store. Then one Sunday afternoon when I was reading in my EZ chair, I heard the roar of a helicopter overhead, flying low.  Usually, this only means one thing:  The University AirCare Transport.  I turned on the radio and after about 30 minutes, the announcer said, “Today the University Hospital has admitted its first corona virus patient to the ICU.”

Immediately, I worried about my Amish neighbors who had no electricity, internet, radio, TV or newspapers. Throughout the years, these folks had been neighborly and supportive, and I valued them for their friendship, and depended upon them for some foodstuffs. In turn, I gave the Amish rides to medical appointments and made myself available during emergencies. Despite their naiveté in situations like a pandemic, I respected their basic intelligence and know-how.

On Monday morning, I made rounds, from the hardware store to the country store to the greenhouse to inform the Amish about the deadly virus. The Amish just stared back at me in disbelief. Without more modern media sources, the Amish get their news word-of-mouth from “English” neighbors like me–not always the most reliable sources.  And some had already been told by other English neighbors, that the whole thing was a hoax. My neighbors thought I was being an alarmist.

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