The west Texas town of Iraan has a population of around 1,200. This month, in just two weeks, 119 people were tested for COVID-19 and 50 tested positive, giving the town a 42 percent positivity rate.
According to CNN's Rosa Flores and Ashley Killough, the town could be seen as a microcosm of what could take place statewide in the wake of Gov. Greg Abbott's fight against mask mandates.
State data shows there are currently 372 ICU beds available in Texas, and the nearest medical centers to Iraan that offer ICU care are in Midland-Odessa and San Angelo, Texas, which are each about 100 miles away, and at least one Iraan resident has been airlifted out-of-state for medical care due to the lack of available ICU beds.
"Last week, the school district shut down after only five days of classes because about a quarter of the staff and 16% of the students got infected or were exposed to Covid-19, according to Iraan-Sheffield Independent School District Superintendent Tracy Canter," Flores and Killough report. "For right now the closure is due to last until August 30, depending on the situation. In the meantime, there's no virtual or remote learning, the superintendent told parents in a letter. She also asked everyone to pitch in to slow the spread of the virus."
Read the full report over at CNN.
