Dr. Butterfield Issues COVID Updates

MUSKINGUM COUNTY, Ohio-Dr. Jack Buttefield spoke on behalf of the Muskingum County Unified command today about the COVID pandemic. 

His remarks focused on the rapid increase of COVID cases both locally and nationally. He reiterated that COVID is not just another bout of the yearly flu. 

“There have been, so far in the United States this year, 240,000 Americans died from COVID-19. Over the last five years Influenza has taken 240,000 lives. We have had more deaths in eight months than influenza caused in five years. There’s no question that this is a deadly disease.”, Butterfield said at the Muskingum EMA.

Butterfield also put a focus on the upcoming holiday season. He warns against having traditional family get togethers. 

“The most important thing about holidays is to do it safely. There is no foolproof 100% way to stay safe over these holidays, and the reason is we are seeing an explosion of cases in our community. We have had more cases in the month of October than all the months leading up to it in this pandemic, and we’re on track to double what we had in October in November.”, Butterfield warned.

Butterfield recommends testing and socially distancing for the holiday season.