The rural town of Iraan, Texas, is rather small, but it's taken a big hit from COVID-19.
Only about 1,200 people live in Iraan (pronounced "Ira Ann") so when 50 people tested positive for COVID-19 within the last two weeks, it became too much for the small town to handle.
"(I'm) very concerned for the community. Very concerned for trying to make sure that they have the healthcare that they need," Iraan General Hospital CEO Jason Rybolt told CNN.
Iraan's hospital only has 14 beds so the town is shutting down certain services to keep the disease from spreading. All city buildings have been closed to residents, and the city council voted to stop late fees on utilities and utility disconnections.
The Iraan-Sheffield Independent School District completely shut down on August 17. The district has less than 350 students and around 70 employees. When 27% of "instructional staffers" and 17% of students called out sick, the district told kids to go home. All extracurricular and football games have been canceled until the end of the month.
“We felt, based on these extenuating circumstances, that it was best for the safety and security of our students and staff to go ahead and quarantine,” superintendent Tracy Canter told the Texas Tribune.
Iraan is scaling back because it relies on hospitals in larger cities more than 80 miles away for serious cases.
“We started seeing some patients come into our facility that were needing more care than what they could get at home last week, and we have transferred some patients out to larger facilities. Our biggest issue right now is finding facilities that will take these patients because every facility in the state is full,” Iraan General Hospital's Chief Nursing Officer Connie Miles told KOSA.