Quarantine Measures Challenged by Public Apathy
With schools closed to stop a measles outbreak, health authorities struggle to enforce social distancing during a local epidemic.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Although few fatalities have resulted from the measles epidemic, the present quarantine is not a matter to be taken as a joke. The closing of the city’s schools is a serious thing and the length of the enforced vacation will be determined largely by the attitude of the public. If the health orders are not obeyed, the quarantine will be strictly enforced. Parents have been seen allowing their children to play together in the street, which is a flagrant violation of the rules. The afflicted must be kept in isolation.
“The closing of the city’s schools is a serious thing and the length of the enforced vacation will be determined largely by the attitude of the public.”
The frustration expressed by health authorities in 1914 over public compliance during a respiratory epidemic bears a striking resemblance to the tensions felt by local health departments during the recent COVID-19 pandemic.
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