Journalists, like most of the population, have largely been confined to our homes as we’ve covered the impact of the coronavirus.
But we wanted to know how the pandemic was affecting Colorado farm communities, so reporter Jon Murray grabbed a mask and headed east last week to visit some folks in Yuma — from an appropriate distance, of course.
I had a theory that coronavirus wouldn’t be such a big deal in parts of the state where livestock outnumber people, but it was a theory that was quickly disproven. Social distancing might be easier, but many other concerns remain. Concern about their livelihoods. Concern about the food supply chain. Concern about illness overwhelming their small hospitals.
And, yes, concern about finding toilet paper.
“The difference is we only have one grocery store and the next one’s a 40-mile trip,” Meeker Mayor Regas Halandras told Jon.
— Cindi Andrews, senior editor
Colorado farms face new worries as coronavirus threatens food supply
Five in-depth looks at Colorado in the age of coronavirus
From wealthy students to impoverished refugees, Denver Public Schools’ focus on equity plays out in remote learning
Establishing an emergency remote-learning protocol to serve the needs of more than 90,000 Denver students with vastly different socioeconomic backgrounds and home lives — all amid a global pandemic that shuttered Colorado’s school buildings — was not on DPS Superintendent Susana Cordova’s radar at the start of the school year.
Once it became her reality, Cordova said centering equity in the process illuminated the path forward. Read more from Elizabeth Hernandez…
Colorado health care workers on the front lines of coronavirus fight speak out: “I’m afraid about being dead”
When Harshal Shah, an internal medicine doctor at Parkview Medical Center in Pueblo, gets home from work, he enters through the garage and walks straight to the basement without greeting his pregnant wife or 4-year-old son. He hasn’t hugged either of them in a month.
After 12-hour shifts at the hospital, Shah, laying on a mattress he dragged downstairs, along with a microwave and a toaster, can’t relax. “I’m losing sleep,” he said. “I’m afraid about being dead.” Read more from Alex Burness…
Inmates and their families have little information, lots of fear amid coronavirus spread
For the more than 30,000 people incarcerated in Colorado, the invisible threat of the virus seems inescapable in the jails, prisons and immigration detention centers where they live. With little information coming from many facilities, families are left with only worries about whatap going on inside.
Itap nearly impossible to social distance in correctional facilities due to small living spaces. Incarcerated people don’t choose where they are living, who they live with and how they move through the buildings. Read more from Elise Schmelzer…
More Coloradans applied for unemployment last week than in all of 2019 as coronavirus’ toll deepens
Thursday’s unemployment claims data was just the latest in a string of jaw-dropping weekly reports from the Colorado Department of Labor of Employment as the COVID-19 pandemic and public safety measures being enforced to fight it continue to put a stranglehold on what just a few months ago was a soaring economy.
And thatap with a significant chunk of people — the self-employed, freelancers and gig workers without other sources of income — still unable to tap into benefits as the state’s labor office works to turn on a new system that will connect them with support. Read more from Joe Rubino…
We’re all feeling anxious, sad, bored, scared and overwhelmed, Allyson Reedy writes in an essay for The Know. We’re doing what we need to do to allow as many of us as possible to survive.
That we’ve been thrust so suddenly into a time where we have to make such a concerted effort for our survival and that of others is pretty nuts to begin with, but here we are. Attempting survival by waiting inside our homes for all of this to be over. But really, go outside. Just strap on that mask, keep at least 6 feet away from others, and stick to your neighborhood.
Other ways to stay sane from The Know:
- How to make The Marketap famous at home
- From ramen kits to breakfast burritos, for Denver restaurant takeout and delivery
- How to make still special during lockdown
- Tips for planning your during the coronavirus shutdown
- veggie plants, herbs and fruit trees in Colorado for that garden you’re starting
A few more important stories from the past week
+ Nearly half of Colorado’s coronavirus deaths tied to residential health care facilities, state data shows
+ The Market at Larimer Square closes its doors for good after more than 40 years
+ How lobbyists and panicked Denverites kept liquor stores and marijuana dispensaries open during coronavirus
+ Denver Botanic Gardens’ giant Spring Plant Sale is still on — but you have to move quick — The Know
+ BLM releases plan for opening public lands in western Colorado to drilling, and not everyone is happy with it
+ Most of Colorado’s neighbors don’t have stay-at-home orders. Here’s how that’s working out for them.
+ Convention center bid-rigging scandal: Mortenson agrees to $1.3M settlement that includes work on coronavirus project
+ For Lakewood nurse, combating coronavirus is part of personal mission to “meet people where they are most vulnerable”
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