N.Y. county ends monthslong measles state of emergency

Rockland County, N.Y., which famously placed an emergency ban on unvaccinated children in public spaces following a measles outbreak, is ending its state of emergency. In an announcement yesterday, the county officials said that emergency — which expired at midnight on Thursday after being in effect since March — was ending because cases have been steadily dropping over the past three months. But the county’s outbreak is not yet over: 283 measles cases were recorded since October last year, with the latest case added this week. A spokesperson for the county told me that the “outbreak itself cannot be declared over until 42 days after the last reporte[d] case.” Nationally, four states are dealing with measles outbreaks, and more than 1,100 cases have been reported this year.