Public health officials in a North Dakota community ordered nearly 200 unvaccinated schoolchildren to quarantine for 21 days because of measles.
“About 180 Williston-area students are isolating at home after three schools were notified by public health officials of measles exposure on their campuses,” North Dakota Monitor reports.
Unvaccinated students at Missouri Ridge Elementary, Williston Middle School and Williston High School were told they need to isolate for 21 days to ensure they were not infected, said Paula Lankford, spokesperson for Williston Basin School District 7. The precaution is to prevent students from unknowingly spreading the virus to others.
Health officials on Tuesday confirmed nine cases of measles in Williams County in northwest North Dakota. Daphne Clark, spokesperson for the Upper Missouri District Health Unit, said the measles cases are considered part of an outbreak because health officials believe community spread is occurring without direct contact with known carriers of the illness.
Four people diagnosed with measles were in Williston schools while infectious, the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services said.
The entire campuses of the affected schools were considered exposed, Lankford said.
The quarantine requirement affects some unvaccinated fourth grade students who were touring Williston Middle School on the day of the exposure, Lankford said. It also affects a few other students who don’t attend the affected schools but shared a bus ride with an exposed student, she said.
“Each of the schools is going to work with those families that are excluded to ensure that they have educational opportunities for their kids and connections with teachers through digital means,” Lankford said.
The Williston school district has a total enrollment of about 5,300 students.
Public health officials want to isolate healthy children for weeks.
They have obviously learned nothing from the 2020 COVID debacle.
Hellbound and Down 