New policy to aid businesses that may have been forced to close its doors goes into effect

ZANESVILLE – The Families First Coronavirus Response Act was signed into law on March 18th and it responds to conditions by providing paid sick leave, virus testing, as well as food assistance and unemployment benefits to employees and families who need such help. The Muskingum County Commissioners held an unscheduled meeting this afternoon and one topic they discussed was the new policy.

“We understand the social distancing and we try not to meet more than we need to but with these new policy and guidelines coming into effect today, we wanted to be on board the same day for it to take effect and for our employees and the elected officials and department heads so they know what to do and what policies to follow,” County Commissioners Board President Cindy Cameron said.

The County Commissioners are thankful for the help they receive from the public during an event that has never been seen before such as this.

“We are here for people’s public safety. We’re always trying to deal with customer service and we appreciate people working with us and trying to help us through a difficult time. It’s uncharted waters here and we’re all just trying to do the best we can,” Cameron said.

Cameron also said that she feels the county is doing a good job of social distancing and she hopes that the number of cases in the county remains at a low number.