The Village of New Concord held their monthly Village Council meeting on Feb. 8. Dr. Jack Butterfield, Medical Director of Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department, shared a COVID-19 status update for Muskingum County.
Butterfield presented at the meeting to help guide continued safety in Muskingum County and he explained how following safety protocols have helped numbers drop since December when Muskingum County was the second highest per capita in the state. He also explained why Muskingum County is still a red county although numbers have been dropping.
Dr. Jack Butterfield administers a vaccination on Feb. 12. At this clinic, 262 staff members at Tri-Valley Local Schools received their first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Photo courtesy of the Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department.
Muskingum County has been red since August 2020 and was the second highest per capita in the state in December of 2020. “The per capita rate is one of the seven indicators the state uses to assign level of risk,” said Butterfield.
To become red, the county must trigger four or five per capita indicators out of seven total indicators. Currently Muskingum County is only triggering two of those indicators but remains a red county. The reason lies within Muskingum County’s per capita explains Butterfield.
According to The Ohio Department of Health’s website, “the Public Health Advisory Alert System is a color-coded system designed to supplement existing statewide orders through a data-driven framework to assess the degree of the virus’ spread and to engage and empower individuals, businesses, communities, local governments, and others in their response and actions.”
Each county has a different population number. The smaller the population in a county means the per capita is less likely to decrease quickly.
According to the Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department, there are 97 active COVID-19 cases in the county as of March 2.
“Our numbers in the hospital are down. Our deaths at one point we were averaging one to three deaths per day. Now we’re averaging three to four deaths per week,” said Butterfield.
He said this drop in numbers is primarily because of Muskingum County’s enforcement of safety protocols.
“I think our community has embraced masking, social distancing, hand washing, and avoiding large gatherings,” said Butterfield.
Butterfield suggests government offices should remained closed to the public until further notice due to being an essential office. The February Village Council meeting airs on WMCO 90.7 Sunday, Wednesday, and Fridays at 10 p.m. and Sundays at noon. Watch the meeting on Orbit TV 1020 daily at 6 a.m., noon, 6 p.m., and midnight.
New Concord’s Village Hall is currently closed to the public. The next village council meeting will be Monday, March 8 at 6:30 p.m. Listen to the meeting live on WMCO or Orbit TV 1020.
The next Muskingum County COVID-19 Update will be held Tuesday, March 9 at noon. The presentation can be viewed on the Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department’s Facebook page.
