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COVID-19 has changed lives everywhere, but its impact on rural parts of the country is especially pronounced.
Rural communities have fewer hospital workers and hospital beds, less access to telehealth, and their populations tend to be older.
In combination, these factors led to higher rates of COVID-19 related deaths in rural settings than urban areas, according to research from the Pew Research Center.
Even here, in Northern Wisconsin, counties with the lowest populations have among the highest rates of COVID-19 related deaths.
Iron, Florence and Forest counties have the highest case fatality percentages in the state, according to data from the Department of Health Services.