Another Jewish school closed in the midst of the worst epidemic of American measles for 25 years

(June 12, 2019 / JNS) The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that the current outbreak of measles in the United States was the worst in 25 years, with New York City closing another Orthodox Jewish school in Brooklyn for failing to vaccinate students.

According to a report released Monday, 41 new cases of measles have been confirmed, the virus being officially spread to Idaho and Virginia. Twenty-eight states have now been infected, with 1,022 cases reported from January 1 to June 6, including 330 cases in the state of New York outside of Manhattan and 262 cases in Rockland County alone.

An additional 588 confirmed cases have been reported in New York since September 2018, with the city ordering vaccination for all residents of Williamsburg and Borough Park under 19 years of age.

Health officials argued that the current epidemic was at the origin of low vaccination rates, and New York City has ordered the closure of several orthodox Jewish schools for non-compliance with health and safety regulations. vaccination.

The UTA Satmar Boys Central School in Williamsburg was closed Tuesday afternoon. The Tenth Orthodox School in New York will be closed this year. Nine of the schools are located in Williamsburg – a highly ultra-Orthodox neighborhood in Brooklyn – and one in Queens.

According to a report from the JTA, schools will have to create a plan to ban any student who does not comply with vaccination orders and have it approved by local authorities before the city allows them to reopen.

Officials noted that nearly double the number of Williamsburg children had been vaccinated in the last two months compared to the same period in 2018.