Cases of the Coronavirus continue to rise in Muskingum County as many residents prepare for Thanksgiving Day festivities.

Numerous city, state and federal leaders have raised concerns that get-togethers of non-household members might very likely be the next cause for an additional rally of cases in the following four to six weeks.

Historically, the Thanksgiving holiday is attributed to be the most traveled time of the year, with many families having members travel from across the state and country to celebrate together.

Dr. Jack Butterfield, Medical Director of the Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department and Safety Officer for the Muskingum County Joint Unified Command Center, expressed his concerns during one of his virtual addresses earlier this month, adding that his family made the decision to not have their children and relatives over for the holiday.

“Safety with the holidays is imperative and that means families need to talk,” said Butterfield. “How important is that tradition this year, is it worth this being a family member’s last Thanksgiving?”

Butterfield added that individuals need to also consider that they could be silent passive carriers of the virus and infect their older less resilient family members.

Currently, the largest exposure group is college-age students, who, while they aren’t dying from the disease, could develop long-term conditions that still aren’t fully understood.

Butterfield also addressed individuals who cited the age of those who have died from COVID-19 as a means to disqualify the severity of the virus.

“It’s bothersome when I hear people say oh they were 75-years-old or 80-years-old. Their life still has value,” said Butterfield. “They still died. Oftentimes they were completely healthy, but because of age and maybe a comorbid condition they died. So I think it is unfair to say that their life has less value than say someone who is 35.”

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has also repeatedly expressed concerns about large gatherings of individuals for the holiday, worried that an exponential increase in cases, above our current rate, will likely force hospitals to delay necessary surgeries and hamper preventative care.

While calling on individuals to take personal responsibility, DeWine chose not to enact restrictions as severe as Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, where he has prohibited the sale of alcohol to curve attendance at bars and family gatherings.

Ohio witnessed its highest ever reported COVID-19 death count Wednesday and its second-highest positive case count, both factors state health leaders warn show an uptick in cases.

During DeWine’s twice-weekly address Tuesday, the governor said the state is expected to receive its first batch of vaccines near the middle of December, but was unsure how quickly Ohioans could expect them to be readily available.

Meanwhile, Muskingum County observed an additional 132 cases Wednesday, making it the highest single-day report of positive cases since the pandemic began.

A technical issue continues to keep the county COVID-19 dashboard from providing additional information, but officials expect the issue to be resolved by Monday afternoon when the next report is issued.

The county continues to trigger the same four of the seven indicators which place it at a Level 3 Red Public Health Emergency as categorized by the Ohio Department of Health.

One of those indicators, positive cases per capita, has continued to rise, from 813 cases per 100,000 last week to over 890 cases per 100,000 midway through this week.

Data from the Health Department continues to show the largest cited transfer of the virus between individuals are gatherings of people in close proximity to one another.

While statewide data will continue to be available over the holiday, county-level data will not, and will resume on Monday, November 30.