Central UTA Boys Division in Williamsburg is the tenth school to receive a closure notice from the New York City Health Department since an April 9 emergency order regarding the measles outbreak.
The school was shut down because it failed to exclude staff and students who did not have documentation of the measles vaccine, health officials said Tuesday. The school also received violations for not having adequate staff to student ratio. Additionally, it did not give health inspectors attendance and vaccination records in the provided time.
Central UTA Boys Division will not be allowed to reopen until the Health Department receives and approves of a corrective action plan. So far, all nine schools who violated have provided officials with corrective plans and were able to reopen with monitoring.
Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot said in a statement to Metro that, “School staff, parents, and health care providers need to continue playing their role in bringing this outbreak to an end.” Barbot also encouraged everyone to get vaccinated to help end the measles outbreak.
As of June 10, there have been over 588 cases of measles since the outbreak that started in October.
The Mayor’s office told Metro that 437 or 74 percent of those measles cases have occurred in the Williamsburg area. As of April 9, there has been an emergency order requiring those who live within the zip codes of 11205, 11206, 11211, 11249 to get vaccinated.
Due to this emergency order, citywide, over 50,000 vaccines have been administered to kids between 6 months to 18 years old.
Although many are choosing to comply with these orders, over 170 residents have received summonses within the past week for not cooperating. If a child’s guardian or parent violates the order, they can be fined up to $1,000. For not showing up at the summons or responding to it, they can be fined up to $2,000.
For more information about the measles outbreak in NYC, check out the Health Department’s page.
