While Gov. Jared Polis has declared a state of emergency over the COVID-19 coronavirus and nearly half of the 33 positive cases have been discovered in the Denver metro area, rural areas of Colorado are experiencing a different response: calm.

“I’m sure people are worried, but I don’t know that in rural America we’re that worried,” said Merna McGinnis, interim town manager of Springfield, population 1,451, in Baca County.

“You don’t see any of the mass hysteria here that you are seeing in the cities,” said Jessica Dorman, president of the Burlington Chamber of Commerce, noting that she had not seen negative effects on local businesses. “I think we all travel just as much as they do. We’re just more calm about things and maybe more practical.”

As of 3 p.m. on Wednesday, there were no positive cases of COVID-19 identified on the Eastern Plains. Sixteen of the cases were in Western Slope counties, and 257 additional people tested negative. Some rural residents felt that the breathless coverage of the virus was alarmist, given the low perceived risk to their communities.

“You can’t escape the media blast on it all the time,” Kiowa County School District Superintendent Glenn Smith said. “It’s a constant thing that’s coming onto cell phones and computers. I think there’s a feeling we have more control of it here.”

Smith added that there is “a lot more common sense” in rural areas, noting the cleaning protocols in his facilities and the understanding of an enhanced risk to the elderly, but not to the general population.

Quiet preparation was also the approach of the Ignacio School District in La Plata County. Staff will perform deep cleanings of facilities over spring break, and Superintendent Rocco Fuschetto has ordered more frequent disinfecting of empty classrooms and door knobs. He also monitors the constant flow of alerts and emails. Fuschetto did not doubt the coronavirus would reach Ignacio, 30 minutes southeast of Durango, but that only preparation could minimize the damage.

In rural communities, schools can be an important source of information. Chad Vorthmann, executive vice president of the Colorado Farm Bureau, spoke to his members on Wednesday and heard stories of schools requiring delivery drivers to leave packages outside facilities, and of Internet providers testing broadband connections in case schools close and students need to attend class online.

“The biggest concern that most people are expressing is relative to their healthcare systems,” Vorthmann said. “In many of these little hospitals, they only have five ventilators. If the virus were to hit very hard, even the next town over only has four ventilators. The healthcare system would be pressed pretty quickly.”

In Montrose County, there are weekly meetings with partner organizations, and information has gone out to the community about proper hand washing techniques. County Commissioner Sue Hansen said that her perception was that the Front Range has responded differently, but even though neighboring Gunnison County had two positive cases, she believes her community trusts the county’s response. That, combined with the rural character, led to the measured reaction.

“Rest assured, you’re safe in Montrose if you come here,” she added.

Likewise, La Plata County Manager Chuck Stevens cited the leadership of San Juan Basin Public Health and their meetings with county commissioners as demonstrating the area’s preparedness. Stevens said the county is looking at a liberal sick leave policy and waiving requirements for doctors’ notes for employees, but he “wouldn’t go that far” in saying the risk was minimized compared to the Front Range.

A spokesperson for San Juan Basin Public Health explained that while the organization had a half dozen crisis plans in place before the outbreak, tests for COVID-19 take longer to reach a laboratory than in the urban parts of the state. The same is true of residents who must travel longer distances to reach hospitals.

While Mike Sullivan, the executive director of the Sedgwick County Economic Development Corporation, felt that Northeast Colorado was removed from the problem area, he still felt the impact with the cancellation of a Colorado State University regional event in Sterling that he planned to attend.

“I really expect events to begin to get canceled here for a little bit. I have quite a bit on my calendar and wonder every day what events are going to get canceled,” he said.

He and several others noticed the effect on grocery stores, as bare shelves formerly full of toilet paper and water bottles demonstrated the urge of shoppers to stock up on essential items. In rural areas where shopping trips may occur every one to two weeks, there is a worry about insufficient inventory of basic necessities.

Sullivan, however, grew up canning home-grown food and stockpiling for the winter. He has always had a freezer to store meat, and long before the coronavirus he maintained a one to two month food supply for his family.

“It might be a little different mindset out here,” he explained.

Smith, the superintendent, found supply shortages in his area to be a disproportionate response, and said that he is not “pushing panic buttons” until the risk arrives.

“The Front Range is being bombarded with the news. There’s more people and there’s more contact and there’s more international travelers and there’s more exposure risk,” he said. Nevertheless, he felt that flu deaths were common, too, and the COVID-19 deaths nationwide as of Wednesday were not a reason to panic given all of the adversities rural residence face.

“It’s kind of a death sentence, is what you get just from news blasts. I don’t know that a lot of the time the true facts are really discussed.”

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with additional comment.