The Muskingum County Joint Unified Command Center is reporting an additional death Monday afternoon as the county continues to experience a rapid increase in cases of the Coronavirus throughout the local community.

Last week, the county had seven residents die due to COVID-19, with the county ranking third worse within the state for exposures per capita.

The county’s twenty-third COVID-19 death was of an 82-year-old who died due to “COVID-19 pneumonia.”

That individual’s gender and identity are being withheld due to HIPAA regulations.

While a majority of those who have passed away due to the virus have been over the age of 70, Dr. Jack Butterfield, Medical Director of the Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department, said he’s alarmed by individual’s willingness to disqualify the severity of the virus due to the age of those who are dying.

“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.”

Monday morning it was also announced that Genesis Healthcare System was selected as one of only ten locations across Ohio that would administer the initial doses of vaccines which are expected as early as next Tuesday.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine warned that doses would first go to healthcare workers in high-risk occupations such as nursing homes and emergency rooms.

Younger, more healthy individuals might not have an opportunity to receive a vaccine until at least March, DeWine warned, stressing the importance of not letting up on preventative measures such as wearing a mask and socially distancing.

Over the weekend, the county experienced an additional 293 positive cases of the Coronavirus, with supplementary county-level data still unavailable due to a technical issue with the Health Department’s dashboard.

The agency said they hope to have the dashboard up again by Tuesday, December 8 which will include data on information such as rates of local hospitalizations and active total cases.

Reported cases continue to be largely attributed to community spread, linked to various forms of gatherings of individuals.

As of Monday evening, Muskingum County continues to remain at a Level 3 Red Public Health Emergency as categorized by the Ohio Department of Health.