Rockland County, N.Y., currently has the highest per capita rate of coronavirus infection in New York State.

 Rockland County, N.Y., currently has the highest per capita rate of coronavirus infection in New York State.

About 25 miles northwest of New York City, local authorities have been waging a losing battle to curb the coronavirus outbreak:

Rockland County has the highest per capita rate of infection in the state, and among the highest in the nation.

The source of the problem lies in small pockets of the county that are home to a large number of Orthodox Jewish residents, some of whom, according to authorities, have refused to adhere to social distancing requirements.

Spring Valley and Monsey — two adjacent communities with large Orthodox Jewish populations — each have more than 1,000 confirmed cases, accounting for more than a third of the county’s entire caseload, according to statistics compiled by the county health department [http://rockland.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/d074e0336e81449393a76d1768ceb096].

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With Passover beginning Wednesday, county officials are increasingly worried that the disease could spread among large Orthodox families, leading to a spike in cases similar to the one seen last year during a measles outbreak.

“Here’s the thing: A 30 percent spike in cases in coronavirus is going to mean dead people,” said Ed Day, the Republican county executive, who called noncompliance in some communities “maddening” to officials and residents. “This is not the measles, where at least you had immunization.”

Like the measles, however, the concerns over coronavirus and its connection to Jewish communities have led to worries about anti-Semitism; the spread of measles in New York State was partially ascribed to low rates of vaccination in some Jewish enclaves.

These clashes between secular concerns and religious rights and traditions are a point of constant cultural sensitivity in Rockland, particularly in light of past incidents, including a late December attack [https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/29/nyregion/monsey-new-york-stabbing.html] at the home of an Orthodox rabbi by a machete-wielding assailant.

One of the victims of that attack, Josef Neumann [https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/rockland/ramapo/2020/03/29/josef-neumann-dies-machete-injuries-monsey-hanukkah-attack/2938015001], died in late March. His funeral in Spring Valley, N.Y., was well attended, despite warnings against such gatherings because of the coronavirus.

“By going to these funerals and being in close proximity to one another,” Mr. Day said, “they are going to condemn another person to go into the ground.”

Aron Wieder, a Rockland County legislator who is Orthodox Jewish, acknowledged that there have been a handful of large funerals in Rockland for Orthodox decedents, but he said most funerals were being attended by only a few people.

“It was basically the folks that had to bury the body,” he said.

Mr. Weider said that reports of noncompliance by Jewish residents in Rockland were being overstated and accused Mr. Day of fomenting anti-Semitism by focusing on bad behavior from the “less than 1 percent.”

“The overwhelming majority of Orthodox and Hasidic Jews are doing everything right,” Mr. Weider said in an interview on Tuesday, saying social distancing is being practiced in public spaces like grocery stores.

County officials, however, said on Tuesday that they have had dozens of complaints on various type of gatherings since mid-March, including 48 in Ramapo alone.

As recently as Monday, a funeral for a popular local rabbi attracted masses of people to a main street in Monsey; county officials had previously cited Jewish schools in Monsey and nearby Airmont for remaining open beyond a mandatory closing date.

The overall rate of coronavirus infection in Rockland County is now about 1.85 cases per 100 people, with the state reporting 6,413 confirmed cases as of Wednesday.

One hundred seven people from Rockland have died, according to state statistics.

“You know what the ultimate act of anti-Semitism is?”

Mr. Day said. “It would be allowing Jewish people to die.”

Last week, Mr. Day called for a “containment zone” [https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/coronavirus/rockland-county-exec-blasts-cuomo-over-covid-19-containment-zone-request/2360015] within the town of Ramapo, similar to the one the governor ordered in New Rochelle, N.Y. [https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/10/nyregion/coronavirus-new-rochelle-containment-area.html], before the virus had spread to rest of the state.

State officials rebuffed such a request, saying that Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s statewide “on pause” order, announced March 20, had effectively implemented even more stringent rules than those enacted in New Rochelle.

On Monday, Mr. Cuomo said it was up to local governments to stop people from congregating.

“Enforce the rule,” Mr. Cuomo, a third-term Democrat, said on Monday during his daily coronavirus briefing [https://www.facebook.com/GovernorAndrewCuomo/videos/580984945958957]. “I don’t care if you’re Orthodox Jewish, Catholic, Christian, Muslim, I don’t care what. It’s not about religious observation.”

Speaking just after he had extended prohibitions on such gatherings statewide and doubled fines for violations, Mr. Cuomo called such behavior “reckless and irresponsible,” and scolded mourners for planning and attending such events.

“Now is not the time to go to a funeral with 200 people,” he said. He reiterated those remarks on Tuesday, noting the situation in New Rochelle, where a number of people were sickened after attending a bat mitzvah celebration. “We’ve paid this price already,” he said [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpQwcLFhOkI&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR1__jpY2EiDm3PGmPXnucKSTvQA2-fW4nBulCj6imB9364KyHtePPq7vkY]. “We’ve learned this lesson.”

Similar concerns about mass gatherings have been raised by officials in neighboring Orange County [https://patch.com/new-york/midhudsonvalley/coronavirus-towns-ask-cuomo-palm-tree-containment-area] as well as in Brooklyn, which had reports of a heavily attended Orthodox funeral last weekend [https://gothamist.com/news/hasidic-funerals-crowds-ultra-orthodox-neighborhoods].

But the community uproar seems particularly acute in Rockland, where residents have flooded social media platforms and media tip lines with accounts of seeming disregard of mass gathering bans.

Sandra Siegel, 65, of New City, N.Y., said she was sympathetic to the desire to bid farewell to loved ones, but noted that other residents had limited such commemorations, and were “following the rules.”

“Everyone in this country, and in this state, are burying their dead and not having memorial services,” said Ms. Siegel, who oversees a Facebook page [https://www.facebook.com/groups/142179582651174] devoted to local issues, which now has more than 10,000 members.

“I think its selfish that they’re doing that.”

In recent days, county leaders have tried more aggressive measures, establishing fines and criminal penalties for people, schools or businesses violating social distancing and gathering prohibitions. On Tuesday, the county closed its parks.

While several of the larger synagogues in and around Monsey appeared lifeless and shuttered on Tuesday afternoon, some of the smaller ones nestled in residential neighborhoods showed signs of activity.

In an Orthodox Jewish synagogue at 92 Saddle River Road, a group of men and children went in and out and appeared to scrub down folding chairs in the front parking lot.

The Evergreen Kosher Market in Monsey was also bustling with customers preparing for Passover; many wore face coverings, more did not.

One customer wearing a mask was Naftali Wagshal, 35, a warehouse manager and Monsey resident who said the Orthodox community has been slow to accept the threat of the coronavirus, and that some were still resisting.

“The community is so tight knit, the message has been slow to get to this community because the community is not exposed to the media the same as others,” Mr. Wagshal said, who added that while he is opting to stay at home alone for Passover, he knows some people are continuing to congregate in shuls.

“People are being told to not do some things they have done their whole life,” he said. “Some people, there’s just no changing them.”

Nate Schweber reported from Monsey, N.Y.

Jesse McKinley is the Albany bureau chief. He was previously the San Francisco bureau chief, and a theater columnist and Broadway reporter for the Culture Desk. @jessemckinley

A version of this article appears in print on April 9, 2020, Section A, Page 17 of the New York edition with the headline:

Fear and Frustration Increase With Spike in Cases in Jewish Enclaves.