In rural Georgia, death upon death during outbreak

Within 48 hours, coronavirus robbed Desmond Tolbert of both his parents.

Nellie Mae and Benjamin Tolbert died on March 30 and April 1 at different hospitals. Neither knew of the other's condition.

"Burying both parents at the same time? It's hard," he said.

Terrell County, where the Tolberts lived, has one of the country's worst per capita death rates from COVID-19.

The mostly black, mostly rural region was already vulnerable, even before its only hospital shuttered decades ago.

"If there had been a hospital and access to adequate health care, it could have possibly been different," said Cordarial Holloway, a mortician in Dawson.

Dr. James Black, medical director of emergency services at Phoebe Putney Hospital in neighboring Albany, said the outbreak has highlighted known deficits in care for rural Americans.

"I think ultimately history is going to judge us not only by how well we prepared and how well we responded, but also what we learned and what we changed moving forward," Black said.

Of the 10 counties with the highest per capita death rates from the virus in America, half are in rural southwest Georgia.

And in a community as small and tight-knit as Dawson, every death is personal.

But Eddie Keith, a funeral home attendant, answered a call on April 3 that hit him especially hard.

His own pastor, Rev. Alfred Starling, had died from the virus.

Keith said he wrestled with whether to be the one to retrieve his body from a hospital in Dothan, Alabama.

Ultimately, a sense of duty to his friend of 30 years urged him to go.

"I was the one to go and pick him up, bring him back," Keith said. "And I got a chance to say a few words."

Keith said he's turned to his faith to help him cope – since he couldn't turn to his pastor.

He still finds himself singing Rev. Starling's favorite spiritual. He said it makes him feel good.

"I'm gonna lay down my burden, shoulder up my cross. And I'm going home to live with Jesus, ain't that good news," Keith sang.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia and death.

This story is produced with the support of the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting.