MODOC COUNTY, Calif. - Modoc County is the only county in California with zero cases of the coronavirus.

Since the start of the pandemic, the coronavirus has yet to make an appearance in the county.

People told Action News Now they believe they have zero cases because they live far away from the big cities.

“I feel very strongly that rural is very different than the large cities,” said Kim Marchant of Alturas. “We are so very spread out here.”

In 2019, the U.S. Census reported that Modoc County had a population of fewer than 9,000 people. People say that the community continues to follow the guidelines laid down by the sheriff’s office.

“I think that the community is doing an excellent job of following the protocols that have been set up by the sheriff,” said Kim Parker of Alturas.

Even though there are no positive cases at this time, the sheriff's office says because of the increase in testing it anticipates that one could pop up down the road.

“Not anybody on our team expects that we won't at some point see a case in Modoc County, due to the increased testing,” said Modoc County Sheriff, Tex Dowdy.

The sheriff’s office says there is a contact tracing plan in place, if and when, they do get their first case.

Next month, the Modoc Junior Livestock Auction is planned for June 8 to June 12. Action News Now reached out to the U.C. Cooperative Extension which oversees the auction. A representative tells Action News Now that they’ve already made significant changes to the event.

The event’s Facebook page says it is working to follow state guidelines by increasing seating and sanitation.