Pictured: Martha and Leroy Jongetjes both survived COVID-19. They spent several days in the hospital but are now home again.

By Jill Fennema –

For the first four months of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were not very many people in the Edgerton area that were affected by the disease.  In July, the first death from COVID-19 was recorded in Pipestone County. It was not until September that the first resident at Edgebrook Care Center was infected and a resident died of the virus later that month.

Numbers of positive cases continued to climb throughout October. There was a total of 239 positive cases on October 1. By November 4, that number was at 397 and by November 30, the number had climbed all the way to 725.

Many people in our community have had the disease – some being confirmed with a test and some not. Symptoms range from almost no symptoms at all to severe illness requiring hospitalization.  Others have lost their sense of taste or smell and have cold-like symptoms.

Navigating the pandemic and taking the correct and proper precautions can be daunting and frustrating. When your child wakes up with a cold with no fever, parents have to decide what to do. When you feel a cold coming on, do you go get a test?

Those are all personal choices that require thought and a weighing of the possible outcomes.

For Roy and Martha Jongetjes of Edgerton, they decided to attend a free testing event in Luverne on October 13, even though neither had any symptoms.