The Coronavirus continues to take the lives of Muskingum County residents as local, state and national officials work to coordinate the delivery of now not one, but two vaccines.

A significant number of positive cases of COVID-19 were also reported last week within the county, as countries in Europe are reporting the detection of a new Coronavirus strain that is said to be more contagious, but not any more deadly.

This comes on the heels of congressional leaders reporting, but not having voted on, an additional stimulus package that will extend unemployment benefits and provide a one-time check to every American.

Last week, the Muskingum County Joint Unified Command Center reported a total of 11 additional deaths, ages ranged from 74-years-old to 102-years-old.

Those COVID-19 deaths represented the county’s thirty-first through forty-first deaths, with at least one fatality reported each day.

Of those, 7 individuals, a 78-year-old, an 81-year-old, an 83-year-old, an 87-year-old, an 88-year-old, a 93-year-old and a 94-year-old all died due to “COVID-19 pneumonia.”

Two more, a 74-year-old and a 77-year-old, died due to “Coronavirus related complications.”

Of the remaining two, a 91-year-old died due to “COVID-19 acute hypoxic respiratory failure” and a 102-year-old died due to “induced cardiopulmonary failure.”

In total, the deaths represent a 37.5 percent increase over the previous week, where the week prior had a total of eight deaths reported.

Last week also resulted in an additional 600 positive cases of the virus being reported within the county, many of which continue to be attributed to community spread.

During his once-monthly address earlier in December, Dr. Jack Butterfield, Medical Director of the Zanesville-Muskingum County Health Department, said there remains a strong number of cases coming from area nursing homes.

Butterfield added that many of those individuals end up needing to go to a hospital for treatment, with some needing to be placed in the ICU due to the severity of their condition.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has also expressed his concern at the number of cases coming out of adult care facilities and nursing homes statewide as part of his rationale for pushing to ensure that those individuals and staff are among some of the first to receive the vaccine.

DeWine visited the Pleasantview Care Center in Parma on Friday as it became one of the first nursing homes in the country to receive and administer the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.

DeWine, during a short press conference at the facility, reminded Ohioans that the available supply will be fairly limited in the upcoming weeks and that it will likely to reserved for front-line healthcare workers and those at the most risk of contracting the virus.

Even with a second vaccine being approved by the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA), it will likely be months before younger, more healthy adults are able to receive a vaccine, a realty that DeWine stressed warranted the need for Ohioans to maintain what they are doing to slow the spread of the virus.

According to the most recent Muskingum County COVID-19 dashboard, there are currently 1,195 active cases of the virus and 52 current hospitalizations.