Initially the death and suffering driven by the COVID-19 virus seemed far away from the Plains of South Dakota.
Like the news of wars and natural disasters from distant foreign places, it seemed like a big city problem where people live chock-a-block in high rises and ride densely packed mass transit.
“It was hard to fathom what people went through back in the spring,” says Angel Wilson, nurse practitioner at the Rosebud Hospital on the Rosebud Reservation. “I could read about it and say how horrifying it was for them, but it was still far away.”
Now, however, the virus has arrived on South Dakota’s eight reservations, in a state that in recent weeks routinely tops the list of COVID-19 hotspots. And it has hit hard, overwhelming hospitals and requiring some patients to be flown out of state, often with limited means for returning home.