BELLE PLAINE。在堪萨斯州西北的风吹大草原上，它已经不再是一个被时间摧残的小镇了。新冠肺炎仍然设法找到了诺卡图尔。
除了服务站、谷物升降机、小博物馆和周末当地人打台球、吃披萨和喝啤酒的地方之外，没有多少乡村村庄的遗迹。这座摇摇欲坠的建筑的屋顶已经坍塌，这座建筑曾是银行和综合商店的所在地。学校几十年前就关闭了，以前的高中建筑被用作城市办公室。
“由于一些人持有COVID，拒绝呆在家里接受隔离，因此已经确定诺卡图尔和该地区的公民继续下去是不安全的，”该镇时事通讯中的通知写道，并张贴在脸书页面上。它将取消归咎于“对他人缺乏关心的疏忽态度”。
几十年的传统让诺曼·洛克威尔怀旧，整个城镇通常在圣诞节聚在一起吃顿家常便饭。它的同名绘画以大量捐赠的肉类、工艺品和其他商品为特色，这样每个家庭都可以带着奖品回家。当地的4-H俱乐部开始出售烘焙食品。圣诞老人骑着消防车来了。
迪凯特县有不到3000人分散在农场和像诺卡特这样的小镇上。截至周一，该县有194例冠状病毒病例和1例死亡，尽管医疗提供商表示，当地居民至少还有4例死亡尚未计入官方死亡人数。
73岁的北卡罗来纳州居民卡罗琳·普罗特茨从未出现过症状，只是在10月份的一次医疗检查中发现她对新冠肺炎呈阳性。她说，住在该县的两个以前的高中同学死于这种病毒。她的丈夫也呈阳性。
“这对我来说非常真实，”她说。
普洛特想知道取消通知是不是在“谈论我”。在隔离期间，她只会离开自己的家——她尖锐地说，在医生的允许下，戴着口罩——去照顾一个仍然认为这场流行病是一场骗局的居家朋友。
诺卡图尔市长卡尔·里昂(Carl Lyon)承担了一年一度的圣诞老人的角色，他说，虽然大多数居民对社交距离和戴口罩“相当满意”，但有些人已经感染了病毒。
里昂说:“我知道有几个人患有这种病，他们仍然在四处奔波。"他们似乎并不担心自己感染了其他所有人。"
迪凯特县治安官肯·巴斯基(Ken Badsky)估计，应该隔离的县居民中，有5%违反限制外出。他的办公室打电话给一些人，“坚持他们做他们应该做的事”，但没有采取法律行动。
“我还有很多其他的事情要做。我没有时间跟着周围的人，”巴德斯基说。“我们有900平方英里的土地，我们有三名全职官员和一名兼职官员来处理此事，我们忙于其他一切。”
随着冠状病毒病例激增，这种情绪激怒了医疗提供商，随着全州医院人满为患，为病情最严重的患者找到床位变得更加困难。
“我们需要一些支持来阻止这种病毒，我们正在寻找需要做好自己工作的人来做这件事，否则这件事会变得猖獗，会给我们的医院带来更大的压力，”克里斯·马修斯(Kris Mathews)说，他是迪凯特健康中心(Decatur Health)的管理员，迪凯特健康中心是奥柏林的一家小型危重病医院，位于诺卡图以西19英里。
斯坦·米勒，这位25年来一直担任圣诞绘画节目主持人的人，对于今年放弃它的决定有着复杂的情绪。这位63岁的诺卡图尔居民说，他明白有些老年人你不想感染病毒。但也令人失望。
“我喜欢看到所有的欢乐，尤其是小孩子，”米勒说。“画结束后，我们有圣诞老人，看到他们坐在圣诞老人的腿上，告诉他们圣诞节想要什么，你知道，我总是面带微笑。”
Christmas traditions axed as pandemic sweeps rural Kansas
BELLE PLAINE, Kan. -- It's barely a town anymore, battered by time on the windswept prairie of northwest Kansas. COVID-19 still managed for find Norcatur.
Not much remains of the rural hamlet, save for service station, a grain elevator, a little museum, and a weekend hangout where the locals play pool, eat pizza and drink beer. The roof has collapsed on the crumbling building that once housed its bank and general store. Schools closed decades ago and the former high school building is used for city offices.
“Due to individuals who have COVID and refuse to stay home and quarantine it has been determined it is not safe for the citizens of Norcatur and the area to proceed,” read the notice tucked in the town’s newsletter and posted on its Facebook page. It blamed “negligent attitudes of lack of concern for others” for the cancellation.
In a decades-old tradition that evokes Norman Rockwell nostalgia, the whole town typically gathers for a potluck dinner at Christmastime. Its namesake drawing features a plethora of donated meats, crafts and other goodies so every family can go home with prizes. The local 4-H Club puts on its bake sale. Santa Claus comes riding the firetruck.
Decatur County has fewer than 3,000 people scattered across farms and small towns like Norcatur. As of Monday, the county had 194 coronavirus cases and one death, although medical providers say there are at least four more deaths of local residents that have yet to be added to the official toll.
Carolyn Plotts, a 73-year-old Norcatur resident who never had symptoms and only found out she was positive for COVID-19 when tested for a medical procedure in October, said two of her former high school classmates who live in the county died because of the virus. Her husband also tested positive.
“It's been very real to me,” she said.
Plotts wondered whether the cancellation notice was maybe “talking about me.” During her quarantine she would only leave her house — with her doctor's permission and wearing a mask, she said pointedly — to care for a housebound friend who still believes the pandemic is a hoax.
Carl Lyon, the Norcatur mayor who takes on the annual Santa role, said while most residents are “pretty good” about social distancing and wearing a mask, some have gotten the virus.
“I know a couple of people had it and they were still kind of running around and whatnot,” Lyon said. “Didn't seem to bother them that they infected everybody else.”
Decatur County Sheriff Ken Badsky estimated that 5% of county residents who should quarantine violate the restrictions and go out. His office has called some and “insisted they do what they are supposed to do,” but has taken no legal action.
“I have so much other stuff to do. I don’t have time to follow people around,” Badsky said. “We have 900 square miles, we have three full-time officers and a part-time to take care of that and we are busy with everything else.”
Such sentiments anger medical providers as coronavirus cases surge and it gets more difficult to find beds for their sickest patients as hospitals across the state fill up.
“We need some backing to stop this virus and we are looking to people that need to do their job to do it, and so otherwise this thing is going to run rampant and it is going to put more pressure on our hospital,” Kris Mathews, the administrator of Decatur Health, a small critical access hospital in Oberlin, just 19 miles west of Norcatur.
Stan Miller, the announcer for the Christmas Drawing for more than 25 years, has mixed emotions about the decision to forgo it this year. The 63-year-old Norcatur resident said he understands that there are elderly people who you don't want to get the virus. But it's also disappointing.
“I like to see all the joy, especially the little kids,” Miller said. “We have Santa Claus after the drawing is over and to see them sit on Santa's lap and tell them what they want for Christmas, you know, always puts a smile on my face."
