Rockland County will declare a state of emergency today because of the ongoing measles outbreak that had risen to at least 150 cases since October.
Starting at midnight, anyone who is under 18 and not vaccinated against the measles will be banned from public places. This ban will last until the declaration expires in 30 days or until people are vaccinated.
Rockland County Executive Ed Day will hold a press conference at 2 p.m. to discuss the state of emergency.
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The announcement comes days after county health officials announced six new exposure sites in Spring Valley and Monsey, including Target in Spring Valley Marketplace, All Fresh Supermarket, Atrium Plaza, Designer’s Spot, TOR bus loop 2 Eastbound and International Taxi.
This was the first time the county released new exposure sites since Thanksgiving weekend. Measles cases have been slowly rising. On March 21, the county announced a total number of 150 confirmed measles cases since the outbreak began in October.
State health officials declined to declare a state of emergency in Rockland last month after measles got national attention due to an outbreak and emergency declaration in Washington state. Officials said they were holding regular emergency preparedness calls with local health departments since October after activating its incident management system. At the time there were 137 total measles cases in the county.
The outbreak has primarily affected members of the Orthodox Jewish community and exposure sites have mostly been in Monsey or Spring Valley, and anti-vaccination advocates last fall used a phone hotline called Akeres HaBayis to tell parents to continue sending their children to school.
But Rockland health officials caution that due to the small geographic size of the county, anyone who is unvaccinated is at risk for measles.
Rockland County Legislator Aron Wieder, D-Spring Valley, said he reserved comment until he's heard more details. He was unaware of the planned state of emergency until a press announcement was issued.
"Overall, I think that people should be mindful about this terrible disease," said Wieder, who is Hasidic. "I think there is a false perception that people in the Orthodox Jewish community are not vaccinated. That’s not the case. I'm vaccinated. All my children are vaccinated."
Schools targeted
Rockland County Health Commissioner Dr. Patricia Schnabel Ruppert issued an order on Dec. 5 that schools in the 10952 and 10977 ZIP codes with vaccination rates under 95 percent must keep unvaccinated children from attending.
Nine yeshivas were fined in November for not reporting unvaccinated students. A federal judge denied a temporary injunction to allow unvaccinated students to return to class at the Green Meadow Waldorf School after parents brought a lawsuit against the county.
Unlike other places affected by measles outbreaks, such as New York City and Lakewood, New Jersey, Rockland County has not released the number of new or active cases or any demographics of the people affected, but rather a total number of cases since the beginning of the outbreak.
New York City's health department has reported 181 measles cases as of March 19. A new outbreak with eight measles cases in New Jersey began earlier this month after an outbreak linked to the one in New York was declared over in January.
The original measles cases in New York and New Jersey in October came from travelers visiting from or traveling home from Israel, which is experiencing a measles outbreak that has affected more than 3,400 people and caused at least two deaths.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention listed 314 measles cases in 2019 as of March 21 in 15 states, including New York, New Jersey and Washington.
Measles has been eliminated in the United States due to high vaccination rates, but pockets of measles outbreaks can break out in un- or under-vaccinated areas due to travelers bringing in measles from outside of the U.S., officials said.
About measles
Residents are encouraged to check their vaccination records or with a physician to see if they need to get the MMR immunization. Adults need two doses of the vaccine, which is 97 percent effective after the second dose. It is 93 percent effective after a single dose.
Children usually get the first shot between 12 and 15 months and the second shot before starting school. Due to the outbreak, health officials recommend babies get the shot at six months, and then the regular two doses at the scheduled times.
Free MMR vaccines are available by calling:
- The Rockland County Department of Health at 845-364-2497 or 845-364-2520 to schedule an appointment to get a free MMR vaccine at the Pomona health complex.
- The Rockland County Department of Health Spring Valley Family Planning Clinic is also providing MMR vaccines, by appointment to Family Planning patients. Family Planning Clinic patients can call 845-364-2531 to schedule an appointment.
- In addition, MMR vaccines are available at local health care providers or by calling a local federally qualified health center, such as Refuah and Hudson River Health Care. The federally qualified health centers see patients on a sliding fee scale and by appointment. They may require patients new to their centers to have a well visit first, before a vaccine can be given.
It is possible to get measles even if you are vaccinated, but the case will likely be milder and less contagious, according to health officials.
People are considered immune or protected if:
- they have had two doses of the MMR vaccine,
- they had a physician or provider confirm measles,
- they had a lab test confirming immunity, or
- they were born before 1957.
Measles is a highly contagious respiratory virus that is spread by direct contact with nasal or throat secretions of infected people. Symptoms include rash, fever, runny nose, red watery eyes and a cough. People are considered contagious from four days before to four days after the rash appears, and symptoms usually appear 10 to 12 days after exposure, but could appear as early as 7 days or as late as 21 days after exposure.
Measles can stay in a room up to two hours after an infected person visited and can be extremely dangerous, especially for young children, pregnant women and those who are immuno-compromised because of disease. It can lead to pneumonia, brain damage, deafness and death. About one in every four people with measles will be hospitalized.
Anyone with symptoms is asked to stay home, avoid visitors and contact their health care provider or local clinic or emergency room before going in to protect other people.
Residents can get more information at the county Department of Health website or by calling the state's measles information line at 888-364-4837.
Twitter: @MattSpillane
https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/rockland/2019/03/26/rockland-declare-state-emergency-measles-outbreak/3276527002/
2019-03-26 16:37:00Z
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