> have often had higher rates of covid 19 infections than cities in the area

Several factors at play:

- people thought COVID19 was not a thing outside of cities so people were more careless in rural areas

- wearing of masks is much less in rural areas than cities

- more local communities in rural areas (religious services for example)

But if you NEED to isolate yourself it's much easier to do it in the countryside than in a city.

In rural areas you have more space to stock food to live completely off the usual distribution networks for a longer time. In cities if you live in a small apartment you are tributary to shopping very often or having deliveries frequently, which increases the chance of contamination.

You can keep a years supply of food in a small closet. Everyone can’t suddenly buy a years supply of food in a crisis. Which is how this really plays out, if everyone tries to suddenly stock up on supplies that fails. So space is not a limiting factor in a pandemic.

Further, going to work is a larger concern. A higher percentage of people in cities can WFH indefinitely.

> You can keep a years supply of food in a small closet.

Yeah, I worked out the space requirements once, and it's actually feasible to stock a lifetime's worth of Calories in a fairly small apartment.