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Secluded Chesapeake Bay island keeps eye on virus from afar

Though its one school and two churches have shuttered, life on Tangier Island has continued at a level of normalcy that much of the nation lost weeks ago.

TANGIER, Va. — Accessible only by plane or boat, Tangier Island in the Chesapeake Bay has reported zero cases of the coronavirus.

But the virus is now as close it can get without crossing the water. Though its one school and two churches have shuttered, life has continued at a level of normalcy that much of the nation lost weeks ago.

The small fishing community's mayor says its seclusion has made it a safe haven. 

But the community’s protective isolation could also be its undoing if the coronavirus comes ashore. Disease can spread fast in the close-knit community, which hasn’t had a full-time doctor in half a century. 

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