Despite having only one identified case of Polio in the state, Governor Kathy Hochul of New York has declared a state of emergency over the disease.
The Daily Caller reported, Hochul issued an executive order Friday declaring a State Disaster Emergency, which will allow the state to mobilize additional resources and reduce red tape in its response to the outbreak. So far, only one case of polio has been identified in the state, but wastewater surveillance indicates the virus is circulating among a significant swathe of the population.
This emergency authority will allow EMS workers and even midwives to administer vaccines for the illness. The state will also require that vaccine data is conveyed and reported to New York’s Department of Health.
“If you or your child are unvaccinated or not up to date with vaccinations, the risk of paralytic disease is real. I urge New Yorkers to not accept any risk at all,” said State Health Commissioner Dr. Mary T. Bassett
While she is correct, that Polio is not something that should be left up to a dice roll, it’s unclear why one case would constitute a statewide emergency order.
It seems as though every month since the COVID-19 pandemic a new disease, or new variant of COVID-19 with few cases is talked about and blue states across the country immediately invoke emergency powers.
Emergency powers are just that; meant to be used in an emergency, and one singular case in a state with 19.51 million people, one case is not an emergency.
Some experts warn that if the virus is allowed to spread that it may mutate and become progressively more dangerous as it mutates.
This is similar to what happened with the COVID-19 Delta variant.
It seems like diseases are now a political power play for democrats, they quickly learned during the COVID-19 pandemic that the virus could be used to grant additional powers.