NEW YORK (1010 WINS/AP) — Rockland County has banned unvaccinated minors from public spaces due to an ongoing measles outbreak.
"It's an attention grab, there's no question about it,'' Rockland County Executive Ed Day said at a news conference, noting that he didn't believe such a drastic step has ever been tried in the U.S. before.
Day said he was taking the action in hopes of reversing a recent uptick in cases amid disturbing reports that health workers were encountering resistance when investigating cases. Rockland's outbreak has most heavily affected Orthodox Jewish communities, in which vaccination rates tend to be lower.
RELATED: Brooklyn measles tally increases as health officials stress vaccination | Health Department confirms 2nd measles case in Connecticut | Renewed call for vaccinations after measles outbreaks in Brooklyn
Starting at midnight Wednesday, anyone under 18, will be barred from public spaces for 30 days or until they recieve a MMR vaccine.
Measles cases have appeared in Spring Valley, New Square and Monsey.
Measles is a highly contagious disease.
Young children, immunocomprimised persons, and pregnant woman are the most vulnerable to the disease.
Measles is transmitted by airporne particles, direct contact with respiratory output of diseased persons, and droplets.
Rockland health officials encourage anyone ill with measles symptoms, fever and rash, to contact their health facility before getting treated to prevent others there from being exposed to the disease.
Civil rights attorney Michael Sussman, who represents the parents of 44 unvaccinated children who were barred from a Waldorf School in the county, said he would discuss a possible challenge to the emergency declaration in a meeting with his clients Tuesday night.
``It's irrational,'' Sussman said. ``You're punishing people who don't have the illness rather than quarantining people who are sick.'' Sussman said a quarantine of measles patients and those close to them would quickly stop the disease's spread.This month, a federal judge, citing the ``unprecedented measles outbreak,'' denied the parents' request to let unvaccinated children return to the Waldorf School. The lawsuit said the county's order banning unvaccinated children from schools regardless of religious or medical exemptions violated their constitutional rights.
The outbreak began in the Rockland area when seven unvaccinated travelers diagnosed with measles entered the county last October. There have been 153 cases to date, Day said. In the early days of the outbreak, people were cooperating with health officials and getting children vaccinated, he said, but that has changed.There have been 181 confirmed cases of measles in Brooklyn and Queens since October, most of them involving members of the Orthodox Jewish community, according to the CDC.
The CDC says 15 states have had at least one case of measles confirmed in 2019, for a total of 314 cases to date. In 2014, 667 cases were confirmed nationwide and there were 372 cases in 2018.
Like 1010 WINS on Facebook and follow @1010WINS on Twitter to get breaking news, traffic, and weather for New York City.
