Money talks.
Rockland County’s threats of hefty fines in order to force a group of partygoers to cooperate with health officials trying to contain a coronavirus cluster has worked as the socializers have now bowed down and complied with local contact tracers.
The county, north of New York City, warned Wednesday of $2,000 daily fines against eight people who attended a party in the town of Clarkstown with as many as 100 attendees in mid-June and later tested positive for the deadly bug.
The revelers previously refused to assist the county in its contact tracing effort, but changed their tune once they were subpoenaed to cooperate.
All eight partygoers were subpoenaed, contacted by the state Health Department, and ultimately complied with efforts by disease tracers, Rockland County spokesman John Lyon told The Post Thursday.
Six of them responded to county officials Wednesday, while the remaining two gave in Thursday, Lyon said.
People attending the party, young adults in their early 20s, were exposed to COVID-19 by the host, who was already showing symptoms, it was reported.
Those eight people who were at the party and tested positive for coronavirus previously snubbed county investigators, who sought to reach out to others they might have come in contact with and potentially infected.
“They hang up. They deny being at the party, even though we have found their names from another party attending or a parent provides us with the information. They do not answer their cell phones and do not call back,” county Health Commissioner Patricia Schnabel Ruppert said at a press conference Wednesday.
The June shindig had violated a state order in effect at the time that prohibited gatherings of more than 10 people.
There have been more than 13,600 confirmed coronavirus cases in Rockland County since the start of the crisis in New York.
