What to Know
- Four additional schools in NYC will close and 3 people will face fines for failing to comply with measles outbreak order, city officials say
- The Health Department also announced that the United Talmudical Academy in Williamsburg, reopened Thursday
- More than 300 cases of measles have been confirmed since the outbreak began last October
Four additional schools in New York City will close and three people will face fines for failing to comply with health commissioner's emergency order during the measles outbreak, the city's Health Department announced Thursday.
To stop the spread of measles in the city, the Health Department ordered April 9 that adults and children ages 6 months and older who live, work or go to school in ZIP codes 11205, 11206, 11211 and 11249 receive a measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine within 48 hours.
City officials said those who were non-compliant and went unvaccinated as of April 12 would be issued a civil summons.
After the emergency vaccination order went into effect on April 12, an investigation by the Health Department found three people who were still unvaccinated, and as a result they were issued fines of $1,000.
Additionally, health officials announced four more school sites will close due to not complying with the orders imposed to control the measles outbreak. The schools or pre-schools are located at: 68-84 Harrison Ave.; 241 Keap St.; 590 Bedford Ave. and 720 Wythe Ave.
The Health Department also announced that the United Talmudical Academy in Williamsburg, reopened Thursday after it was closed on Tuesday for failing to provide access to vaccination and attendance records. Health officials say they will continue to monitor the school.
As of Monday, 329 cases of measles have been confirmed since the outbreak began last October, with 44 additional cases added since last week’s emergency order, health officials say. The majority of cases are children under 18 years of age.
Although there have been no deaths associated with the outbreak, there have been complications, including 25 hospitalizations and six admissions to the intensive care unit, according to the city's health department.
In one such case, a 43-year-old flight attendant remains hospitalized in a coma in Israel, suffering complications from measles, after she fell seriously ill following her El Al flight out of John F. Kennedy Airport last month, officials and reports say.
New York City is not the only area grappling with a months-long measles outbreak.
Local
Rockland County Executive Ed Day enacted a 30-day order on March 26 that banned unvaccinated people under 18 from gathering places including schools, stores and churches.
A state judge issued a preliminary injunction against the county's emergency order April 5.
Supreme Court Justice Rolf Thorsen ruled in favor of several dozen parents challenging Day's order, part of efforts to stop a measles outbreak that has infected more than 165 people people since October.
Officials in Rockland County plan are moving forward in appealing the judge's order. Day says he plans to issue a new executive order once the 30 days of the initial one run out on April 25. The current court-ordered injunction would not apply to another order.
On Tuesday, Rockland County officials outlined a new plan to combat the measles outbreak.
