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New Coronavirus Limits Bring New Religious Freedom tension

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By ELANA SCHOR AP

Despite state and local limits on public gatherings, some faith leaders have persisted in holding in-person services — a matter of religious freedom, they say, as the nation approached its fourth Sunday battling the coronavirus pandemic.

The most high-profile clash over in-person worship – and crowd limits designed to stop the virus’ spread — came in Florida, where Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne was arrested Monday for violating a county order by hosting a large number of congregants at his Tampa church.

Howard-Browne said after his release he would move future worship online, but the county later ended its effort to apply limits on large gatherings to religious services after a statewide order described religious gatherings as essential.

Law enforcement officials in Louisiana and Maryland took separate action this week against pastors who continue to hold in-person services in the face of stay-home orders in most states.

But more than a half-dozen of those state orders provide a degree of exemption for religious activity, underscoring the political sensitivity of the decisions being made by states and localities.

Vice President Mike Pence said this week that churches should not host groups bigger than 10 people, and President Donald Trump said that “my biggest disappointment is that churches can’t meet in a time of need.” But the application of guidance on the ground has raised questions for some faith leaders.

Pastor Alvin Gwynn Sr., of Baltimore’s Friendship Baptist Church, said that police tried to halt services at his church on Sunday even though he had limited in-person attendance to 10 people.

Gwynn said in an interview that he still plans to hold in-person Easter services, citing the First Amendment’s protections for freedom of worship and assembly. Baltimore has “been through a lot” in recent years, said Gwynn, who leads a local ministers’ group that criticized the city’s police department leadership in 2015 following the death of 25-year-old Freddie Gray.

“Which is safer, in the church with potential virus, or go out the door and catch a bullet?” Gwynn said.

Instructions for church gatherings in Maryland have been issued piecemeal. State guidance dated Monday described houses of worship as non-essential under a stay-home order issued by Maryland GOP Gov. Larry Hogan that allowing them only to conduct “minimal operations.” But follow-up guidance dated Wednesday states that “in-person services” can be held with 10 or fewer people.

In Florida, attorneys at the Christian legal nonprofit representing Howard-Browne tabled their plans to file a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the county order used against him after the county reversed course.

“Instead of using a scalpel to address this, they’re using a chainsaw,” said Liberty Counsel founder Mathew Staver, who added that executive orders designed to limit gatherings during the pandemic were “flying off printers and being signed by government officials with no constitutional readiness.”

On Wednesday, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis issued a stay-home order describing religious services as essential, followed by a second order that overrides any localities’ conflicting guidelines — an edict that could impede local attempts to shut down future large worship services.

Elsewhere, Texas GOP Gov. Greg Abbott also described religious services as essential in his order to limit gatherings during the pandemic. In Georgia, where some of the state’s worst virus outbreaks have been linked to large religious services, GOP Gov. Brian Kemp on Thursday issued a stay-home order that states no faith-based gathering can occur with more than 10 people unless they keep a six-foot distance.

While some faith leaders who continue to hold in-person services have pointed to their First Amendment rights, including Ohio’s Solid Rock megachurch, it’s not clear that their activity during the pandemic would be legally protected.

State or local governments would be “constitutionally justified” in including houses of worship in their closure orders during a public health emergency as long as those orders are “generally applicable,” said John Inazu, a law professor at Washington University in St. Louis who studies the First Amendment.

But the burden shifts if a government attempts to stop a church from holding services with less than 10 people while allowing secular businesses to operate under the same conditions, Inazu added: “There, I think there’s a very plausible religious freedom claim.”

Before issuing his order, Kemp held two calls with hundreds of clergy from across Georgia, urging houses of worship to stream services online or implement other social distancing measures, like holding drive-up services where people listen from their cars.

Most religious services across the country have already moved online.

“We’re making the best of a bad situation. It’s going to be devastating in the short term,” said Todd Gaddis, senior pastor of the First Baptist Church in Dallas, Georgia, referring to the loss of donations from in-person services. “But I’m confident there will be spiritual dividends in the long run.”

And the Trump administration’s entreaties for churches to stop meeting in person extended beyond the White House. Sam Brownback, the president’s special envoy for religious freedom, said Thursday that “religious groups should practice social distancing.”

Brownback, a Catholic, said that he’s skipped Mass for “several weeks, and it’s the longest period I’ve gone without going to Mass. And I think people should be doing this to stop the spread of the virus.”

Ignoring All Others, Anti-Israel Campus Groups Use Coronavirus to Attack Israel

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 Ariel Behar IPT News 

As the first coronavirus cases reached Gaza, anti-Israel groups launched a social media campaign to falsely smear Israel for allegedly blocking needed medical aid.

“This could become one of the worst outbreaks of #coronavirus in the world,” the group IfNotNow (INN) wrote on Facebook. “If the Israeli Government does not immediately lift its own military blockade of Gaza and deliver medical supplies like masks and ventilators, thousands of Palestinians could die.”

The anti-Israel group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) circulated a petition asking Congress to end the Gaza blockade, and claimed that coronavirus was “uniquely threatening to Palestinians.”

“We call upon members of Congress to tell Israel to end its death sentence for the people of Gaza and lift the blockade,” they demanded.

JVP held a virtual rally Tuesday. One speaker made clear that he was not just concerned about Palestinian health and welfare, but about getting rid of Israel altogether.

You hear a lot about Sderot,” said Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) Kamel Hawwash. He called the Israeli city that is subject to relentless Hamas rocket fire, “one of these Israeli settlements that was built very near Gaza that is actually on the side of a little village…whose inhabitants were moved to Gaza. It isn’t about the first rocket being fired from Gaza, it is about the Nakba [Israel’s creation] and the right of return … and clearly this siege, this immoral siege is adding to the difficulties that they have and the fears that we all have for the virus to cross into Gaza. And let’s hope that they are spared that. And let us work together to ensure that Palestine is free and the reconnection of people with every part of Palestine is reestablished.”

Other anti-Israel groups have kept more focused on blaming Israel for what happens in Gaza, despite Israel’s 2005 complete withdrawal from the area.

Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapters bemoaned Gaza’s healthcare system, saying it will prove impossible for Palestinians to cope with coronavirus compared to richer countries who are struggling to deal with the pandemic as well.

“The Gaza Strip’s health system is already on the verge of collapse as a result of a 14-year-long Israeli blockade,” the Ohio State SJP chapter wrote on Facebook. “How are two million Palestinians trapped in the world’s largest open-air prison expected to cope?”

In fact, Israel has sent medical aid for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to help combat the spread of the virus.

“Daily life has been disrupted for millions with the outbreak of #COVID19, but COGAT’s regular operations of transferring goods between Israel and the Gaza Strip continue,” Israel’s Coordinator of Government and Activities in the Territories (COGAT) announced Wednesday. “145 tons of medical supplies were transferred through the Kerem Shalom Crossing into Gaza last week.”

COGAT also said Tuesday that it sent a large shipment to the Palestinian healthcare system, transferred from Jordan through the Allenby Bridge, which included hundreds of medical supplies and testing kits.

On Monday, COGAT oversaw a transfer of medical equipment which the World Health Organization (WHO) donated to help repair defective machines located at the European Gaza Hospital. The head of COGAT’s Coordination and Liaison Administration (CLA) Col. Iyad Sarhan emphasized that they were working nonstop to help stop the spread of the virus in Gaza.

Israel’s efforts haven’t stopped Hamas from blaming Israel for the spread of coronavirus. Hamas statements have been “accompanied by direct and indirect threats, and by demands,” The Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center reported. “Some demands include that Israel release terrorist prisoners in Israeli jails because of the potential for transmission of coronavirus” and “the demand that Israel lift the [so-called] ‘siege’ of the Gaza Strip.” These demands have been parroted by INN, JVP, and SJP.

For instance, JVP advocated releasing Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. “Free them,” it wrote above a Facebook post about Palestinian prisoners protesting a lack of protection against the virus.

“Israel & its U.S. benefactor are responsible for the health and safety of all Palestinians struggling under Israel’s occupation, especially political prisons who are mostly vulnerable in the time of #COVID as it spreads dangerously fast in Israeli prisons. #PalestineLandDay,” the National SJP chapter shared on Facebook. “Free all political prisoners,” read the image shared with that post.

“Gaza hospitals are stretched in normal times and experience shortages of beds, medical equipment and doctors, meaning that any new virus outbreak would be highly problematic and would lead Hamas to quickly demand assistance from Israel,” the Jewish Journal reported. “The way that Hamas usually demands such help is by threating to fire rockets at Israeli cities.”

That’s exactly what happened last Friday night. Hamas launched a rocket toward the south of Israel but injuries were not reported.

Rocket fire from Hamas and other Gaza-based terrorists are part of an infrastructure used to foment more terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians, often at the expense of improving the quality of life for Palestinians. It is the reason Israel imposed a blockade on Gaza – to try to inhibit the terrorists’ ability to dig attack tunnels or make more explosives to fire at civilians. It is a reality the anti-Israel activists and campus groups fail to mention.

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar – the man in charge of Gaza – issued a more direct threat this week:

“If ventilators are not brought into [Gaza], we’ll take them by force from Israel and stop the breathing of 6 million Israelis,” Sinwar said.

Those threats do nothing to help people in Gaza. But they will not be mentioned, much less condemned, by those obsessed with demonizing Israel.

Egypt, meanwhile, has imposed its own blockade on Gaza for security reasons. But when it comes to coronavirus fears, neither Egypt nor Hamas, which governs the area, is blamed. Only Israel.

Despite the rhetoric from Hamas, more than two-thirds of Palestinians surveyed support “cooperation between Israel and the Palestinians to prevent the spread of coronavirus,” a Palestinian Center for Public Opinion poll found.

This goes against the narrative groups like IfNotNow, Jewish Voice for Peace, and Students for Justice in Palestine consistently push.

But the groups and their leaders have shown they are not interested in cooperation.

An ex-SJP leader at New York University (NYU) named Leen Dweik responded to Israel’s first coronavirus death by wondering “should i (sic) paint my nails red or green today.”

Israel’s first coronavirus death was an 88-year-old Holocaust survivor named Aryeh Even.

“Now tell me again that anti-Zionism isn’t antisemitism” wrote British activist and blogger David Collier. He shared a screenshot of anti-Zionist activists celebrating the death of the Holocaust survivor. “This is the sickening way that some received the news of the death of a survivor on Twitter.”

Don’t let these groups fool you into thinking they care about Palestinian lives. Their goal is to use yet another tragedy to push their anti-Israel agenda.

Please Visit Investigative Project on Terrorism who provided this report

Suspected Terror Attack in France

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Two people were killed and four injured Saturday in a stabbing attack in southeastern town of Romans-sur-Isère, about 20km north of Valence.

According to the mayor of the French town, a man armed with a knife attacked people shopping in town, killing two of them and wounding an additional five.

The first victim of the stabbing was a Romanian national who had recently left his home. The terrorists slit the man’s throat in front of the victim’s girlfriend and son. He then entered a tobacco shop and proceeded to stab the owner along with two customers. From there, he continued to a butcher shop and supermarket where he resumed the killing spree.

French authorities have thus far denied reports that the terrorist yelled “Allahu Akbar!” (Arabic for “G-d is great) prior to carrying out the attack.

i24NEWS reported that according to news sources, the perpetrator is a 33-year-old Sudanese asylum seeker.

The news site also quoted French media outlet Le Parisien as saying that the perpetrator lived next to the crime scene, and that his roommate had also been taken into custody.

According to a Guardian report, police arrested the man at about 11 in the morning.

French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted: “My thoughts go out to the victims of the attack in Romans-sur-Isère, the injured and their families. We will fully investigate this odious act that has added more grief to our country that has already suffered so much over the last few weeks.”

France has been on complete lockdown over the past three weeks due to the coronavirus outbreak

Visit Israel National News for up to date News

Pamdemic Updates From Around The World

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A lot of people refer to the coronavirus as the “bug.” The more correct phrase would be “bugs.” At present, health officials say, there are at least eight strains of the coronavirus wreaking havoc across the world. Photo Credit: AP

Numbers in US as of Saturday: 300,565 Cases confirmed- 8,150 deaths- 14,518 recoveries 

Global Numbers: 1,170,150 cases confirmed 63,832 deaths  237,938 recoveries 

Notes From Around the World 

  • Israel Police and the IDF are gearing up to enact military-enforced closures on more  Ultra-Orthodox cities and neighborhoods, at the request of the Health Ministry. The move comes just days after the government approved such a closure on Bnei Brak, a haredi city of 200,000, and as the number of cases of coronavirus infection in Israel surged to 7,851, Jerusalem Post reported.
  • Bnei Brak has more coronavirus cases per capita than any other city in Israel, according to the Health Ministry. On Friday, 1,061 residents were diagnosed with the virus there – up 513 people in the last three days, JP reported.
  • 8 more people died over the weekend so far  bringing the country’s coronavirus death toll to 44
  • A senior Iranian health official has said that there may be a resurgence of coronavirus in the area in and around the capital of Tehran, as residents flout restrictions. Iran is the worst-hit country by coronavirus in the Middle East. On Saturday, the country announced 158 more coronavirus patients had died in the past 24 hours, bringing the total death toll to 3,452. The total number of cases currently stands at 55,743.
  • Dubai has announced a two week lockdown to limit the spread of coronavirus beginning tonight, according to state news agency WAM. Mobility will be restricted, and legal action will be taken against those who do not comply, the government has said. Supermarkets, pharmacies, alongside food and drug delivery services will continue to work as normal.
  • More than 25 organisations helping domestic violence victims in the UK have reported an increase in their caseload since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, domestic violence is increasing due to the quarantine
  • The coronavirus death toll in France has reached 7,560since 1 March, the health ministry has said. This figure includes hospitals and nursing homes. Of these 5,532 occurred in hospital, up from 5,091 on Friday. This is a lower increase than in previous days. The number of deaths in care homes was 2,028, up 612 from yesterday. The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in hospitals has reached 68,605. This has increased by more than 4,000 from 64,338 on Friday.
  • Confirmed cases of coronavirus in Turkey have reached 23,934, an increase of more than 3,000 since yesterday. Coronavirus-related deaths rose by 71 to 501 people, Heath Minister Fahrettin Koca said on Twitter.
  • The number of deaths from coronavirus in Italy has passed 15,000. On Saturday, the country registered 681 deaths from Covid-19 – 86 less than Friday, bringing the total to 15,362. Currently, 88,274 are infected, with an increase of 2,886 new cases, 547 more than Friday. At this point 1,238 have recovered, bringing the total number to 20,996. In total, 124,632 people have tested positive with coronavirus in Italy, including people who have died, recovered and the ones who are currently infected.
  • The number of coronavirus cases in Canada has risen to 12,924, up from 11,747 yesterday, there have been 214 recorded deaths. On 3 April, there were 152, Reuters pointed out .
  • Cats have been infected with coronavirus in Wuhan, and can get the virus from close contact with humans, Chinese state media is reporting. According to a new report, 15 of the serum samples of 102 cats collected in Wuhan, where the virus originated, tested positive for coronavirus.
  • UK Update: 708 people have been recorded as dying from coronavirus since yesterday, the highest daily total so far. This is an increase of 20%. 637 of these were in England. In England, the youngest of the daily rise was aged five years old, and the eldest 104. Of these, 40 had no known underlying health conditions,and this group were aged between 48 and 93. Wales has recorded 154 deaths and Scotland, 218 and Northern Ireland, 56. This brings the national death toll to 4,313 – important to remember that this is only the number of deaths in hospital
  • The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, has said he had a telephone conversation with the US president, Donald Trump, about using the two countries’ partnership to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, Modi tweeted
  • Confirmed coronavirus cases in Portugal pushed past the 10,000 mark on Saturday, Reuters reports, as the country’s health minister said there was still “no light at the end of the tunnel”. Portugal has confirmed 10,524 coronavirus cases and 266 deaths, with health authorities expecting the outbreak to plateau at the end of May.
  •  Latin America’s worst hit country, Brazil officially has 9,056 cases and 359 deaths

 

 

New York Coronavirus Update from Gov Cuomo: “It feels like an entire lifetime”

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Cuomo press conference  notes:

  • With the coronavirus having claimed more than 3,560 lives in New York, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo warned Saturday the state was still days away from the peak of its outbreak “Nobody can tell you the number at the top of the mountain,” Mr. Cuomo said, but estimated that it would be “in the seven-day range.” He said the state was not yet prepared for that point.“It feels like an entire lifetime,” he said. “I think we all feel the same, these stresses, this country, this state — like nothing I’ve experienced in my lifetime.”
  •  Confirmed cases 113,704, up from 102,863. In New York City, 63,306, up from 57,169.
  • Hospitalized in New York State15,905, up from 14,810.
  • In intensive care4,126, up from 3,731.
  •  Cuomo offered signs that many New Yorkers are overcoming the virus: Two-thirds of the people who had been hospitalized after reporting coronavirus-related symptoms have been discharged, Governor Cuomo said.
  • Lon Island: Mr. Cuomo called it a “fire spreading.” Because of the increase in cases on Long Island, New York City’s share of the statewide cases dropped to 65 percent, from 75 percent. Governor Cuomo did not know whether it had to do with city residents fleeing there, the Hamptons have seen an influx
  • Cases in Long Island’s Nassau County are at 13,346 (up 1,322 from yesterday), the second-highest in the state. Suffolk County cases are at 11,370 (up 1,216 from yesterday)
  • New Jersey, which has more than 29,000 cases and has reported more than 640 deaths, has a “serious problem,” Mr. Cuomo said.
  • Cuomo says that the Chinese government will facilitate a donation of 1,000 ventilators to arrive into JFK airport today, saying: “This is a big deal and it’s going to make a significant difference for us.”
  • New Jersey, which has more than 29,000 cases and has reported more than 640 deaths, has a “serious problem,” Mr. Cuomo said.
  • The state of Oregon is sending 140 ventilators to NY, Cuomo says, calling it “astonishing” and “unexpected.”
  • The federal government will be focusing its resources on the conversion of the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center into a coronavirus treatment facility, providing staffing and equipment. Mr. Cuomo said he spoke to the White House about this on Saturday.
  • Mr. Cuomo said New York was currently counting on 85,000 health care volunteers — about 22,000 of them coming from out of state — to assist with the growing number of patients, he said. He also signed an executive order Saturday to allow medical students who have not yet graduated to practice medicine in an effort to provide reinforcements. “We need doctors, we need nurses,” he said. “So we are going to expedite that.”Mr. Cuomo said New York was currently counting on 85,000 health care volunteers — about 22,000 of them coming from out of state — to assist with the growing number of patients, he said. He also signed an executive order Saturday to allow medical students who have not yet graduated to practice medicine in an effort to provide reinforcements. “We need doctors, we need nurses,” he said. “So we are going to expedite that

 QUOTE: “I want this all to be over,” the governor says. “It’s only gone on for 30 days since our first case. It feels like an entire lifetime. I think we all feel the same. This stresses this country, this state in a way nothing else has frankly in my lifetime. It stresses us on every love. The economy is stressed, the social fabric is stressed, social systems are stressed, transportation is stressed. It’s right across the board. But the most difficult level is the human level. It is for me, anyway. And it’s every day and it’s everywhere.”

Store Burglaries Up 75% in NYC as Business Prepare for Possible Civil Unrest

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The NYPD has seen a 75% increase in reports of burglaries of commercial establishments from March 12, when New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency, to March 31, police officials said. The NYPD recorded 254 burglaries of businesses during that time period this year compared with 145 for the same period last year, the officials said.

NYC Fox News outlet described the scene:  A growing scene for those who venture out into the streets of Manhattan these days is boarded up storefronts.  From luxury retailers to small bars, establishments that have no idea when they are going to be allowed to reopen are putting up protection over their glass doors and windows.

Mark Caserta, executive director of the Park Slope business improvement district  gave an interesting perspective to the WSJ regarding the trend of business boarding up their storefronts,” It brings up this idea of rioting and collapse of society,” Mr. Caserta said. “This is way too much, and it sends the wrong signal.”

Burglaries have drastically increased while other crimes have dropped. Thus far NYC has not experienced major violnce on the streets, but many  predict things can become worse the longer the shelter-in-place and general shutdowns remain in place.

The biggest  reason business are  concerned : Fox5 pointed out on Thursday, 6,498 uniformed members of the NYPD were on the sick report which accounts for 18% of the Department’s uniformed workforce.  1,354 uniformed members and 169 civilian members have tested positive for the coronavirus.

The increase in commercial burglaries comes as major crimes across the city fell during the pandemic. From March 12 through March 31, major felonies, such as rapes, murders and assaults, fell by nearly 20% when compared with the same period in 2019, dropping to 3,740 such crimes from 4,670 a year earlier.

“We knew with the closing of many stores that we could see an increase and, unfortunately, we are,” said NYPD Chief of Crime Control Strategies Michael LiPetri to the WSJ

 

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Full Coronavirus Update for New York and Beyond: April 3rd

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By  JV  Web Editor

Key Points from Cuomo press conference

  • Cuomo will sign an executive order to allow the state to take ventilators from hospitals with fewer coronavirus cases and give them to hospitals in need. Cuomo pushed back against a reporter who said the state would “seize” the medical equipment, but that seems like an accurate description considering the National Guard will be used for the operation.
  • New York has recorded 2,935 deaths linked to coronavirus, up from from 2,373 a day earlier, marking the largest single-day increase in the death toll since the crisis struck the state. New York has also confirmed 102,863 cases of the virus.
  • Officials offered a mixed message on whether everyone should wear face coverings to limit the spread of the virus. State health commissioner Howard Zucker noted there was no data to confirm face coverings help prevent transmissions, but Cuomo said it “couldn’t hurt” to wear them.
  • Cuomo once again expressed bafflement and anger that the state has to rely on China for the production of medical equipment. “It is unbelievable to me that in New York state, in the United States of America, that we can’t make these materials,” Cuomo said.
  • The temporary hospital at the Javits Center will begin receiving coronavirus patients, even though officials originally said the facility would treat non-coronavirus patients. Cuomo said there simply aren’t enough non-coronavirus cases right now to make that plan worthwhile

NEW YORK NOTES

  • Bill de Blasio called for the creation of an enlistment program for medical professionals to help combat the pandemic. “Next week in New York City is going to be very tough — next week in New York City and Detroit and New Orleans and a lot of other places,” de Blasio told MSNBC this morning.“And unless the military is fully mobilized and we create something we’ve never had before, which is some kind of national enlistment of medical personnel moved to the most urgent needs in the country constantly, if we don’t have that we’re going to see hospitals simply unable to handle so many people who could be saved.”
  • The Navy ship comfort  hospital docked in New York to help the city amid the coronavirus crisis has only received 20 patients.
  • Over the course of nearly five weeks, the coronavirus has killed more New Yorkers than the terrorists who flew airplanes into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. And the death toll is only expected to grow — by leaps and bounds, Politico reported
  •  More than 1,400 NYPD employees, including more than 1,000 officers, have tested positive for Covid-19 as of Wednesday. That puts the police department’s infection rate at at least 3.8 percent — far higher than the city’s overall 0.5 percent, and almost as high as Rikers Island, where the estimated infection rate stands at a staggering 5.1 percent, according to an analysis by Legal Aid, Intercept reported
  • Two hundred and fifty ambulances from around the country arrived to help NYC during the COVID-19 crisis and are currently staged in  Bronx Zoo  parking lot,” the zoo wrote on its Facebook page above a video of the unusual emergency operation.
  • Uber is donating more than $1 million in rides and food to New York City health care workers and first responders on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, Daily News reported
  • It a news conference , Governor Phil Murphy said, “If you do not need to be out, then we need you to stay at home.  Please, God, stay at home.  And even when you are at home, keep your distance between yourself and other family members.”, Fox reported

NATIONAL

  • The rate of positive coronavirus tests suggests that the next “hot spots” could include Michigan, Connecticut, Indiana, Georgia and Illinois, said White House virus task-force coordinator Deborah Birx.
  • Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine believe that they’ve found a potential vaccine for the new coronavirus.
  • The researchers announced their findings Thursday and believe the vaccine could be rolled out quickly enough to “significantly impact the spread of disease,” according to their study published in EBioMedicine.
  • ” because of some recent information that the virus can actually be spread even when people just speak, as opposed to coughing and sneezing, the better part of valor is that when you’re out, and you can’t maintain that six-foot distance, to wear some sort of facial covering,” DR  Fauci told Fox News. But the senior official emphasized Americans should still practice social distancing, adding that medical professionals would still have the highest priority in getting face masks.
  • Dr Anthony Fauci,said he was baffled as to why every state does not have an order in effect.
  • The US jobs report released this morning shows that the unemployment rate has risen to 4.4% after the country lost 701,000 jobs last month. The latest figure marks a 0.9% increase from last month’s rate of 3.5%, which was a 50-year low in the US unemployment rate, the unemployment rate is expected to only go up. Nearly 10 million people have filed for unemployment benefits in the past two weeks, and the Congressional Budget Office predicted yesterday that unemployment in the second quarter of this year would pass 10%.
  • Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin said $875 million in small business loans have already been processed as part of the Paycheck Protection Program created by the $2 trillion stimulus package.
  • African Americans made up almost half of Milwaukee County’s 945 cases and 81% of its 27 deaths in a county whose population is 26% black. Milwaukee is one of the few places in the United States that is tracking the racial breakdown of people who have been infected by the novel coronavirus, offering a glimpse at the disproportionate destruction it is inflicting on black communities nationwide.
  • In Michigan, where the state’s population is 14% black, African Americans made up 35% of cases and 40% of deaths as of Friday morning. Detroit, where a majority of residents are black, has emerged as a hot spot with a high death toll. As has New Orleans. Louisiana has not published case breakdowns by race, but 40% of the state’s deaths have happened in Orleans Parish, where the majority of residents are black
  • Congressman Adam Schiff has drafted a bill to form a commission to probe the coronavirus response. Schiff said the purpose of the commission would to gather lessons for future crises, but Trump dismissed the idea of a commission yesterday as a Democratic “witch-hunt.”

GLOBAL NEWS

  • Ran Saar, who runs a leading Israeli health care provider, told the Israeli Parliament on Thursday he believed the contagion rate was a lot higher, estimating that 38 percent of the city’s residents could be infected. That would be the equivalent of some 74,000 people, NBC reported.   In total, Israel has reported over 7,000 cases and 36 dead
  • The ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, which has become a hotspot for the spread of the virus, has been put on lockdown
  • Known global death toll passes 55,000. At least 55,781 people across the world have now died as a result of the pandemic, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. The number of confirmed cases passed a million on Thursday and at least 1,056,777 people are now known to have been infected. The true scale of the outbreak is likely to be greater due to suspected underreporting by some nations.
  • The number of cases of the new coronavirus detected in Egypt has jumped by more than 100 for the first time, bringing total infections to 985, the country’s health ministry has said.
  • Albania has reported 27 new cases – its second biggest daily surge – and ordered a third 40-hour lockdown over the weekend to halt the spread of the highly contagious pathogen that has killed 17 in the country so far.
  • The UK government’s pledge to carry out 100,000 tests per day by the end of the month is “realistic”, Public Health England’s director of public health improvement has said.
  • UK endures deadliest day so far. It is confirmed that 684 more people have died in UK hospitals, bringing the total to 3,605 and making the 24 hours to 5pm on Thursday (BST) the deadliest since the outbreak began. The country’s Department of Health and Social Care says 173,784 people have been tested; of whom 38,168 were positive.
  • Italy records 766 more deaths – but infection rate slows. The number of deaths on Friday was relatively steady, when compared to those seen the previous day. But new infections continue to slow down, raising hopes of turnaround. Some 85,388 people are currently infected, with an increase of 2,339 new cases; 138 fewer than Thursday. Italy remains the world’s worst-hit country, having suffered a total of 14,681 deaths.
  • More than 250,000 EU citizens stranded abroadSome 350,000 have been repatriated but that still leaves a quarter of a million EU citizens trying to get home. Josep Borrell, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, says operations are under way to retrieve them. But he adds: “One could not imagine that there are so many Europeans stranded in the world: tourists; visitors; short-term workers.”
  • Swiss death toll rises to 484. The Swiss government announced an increase in the number of deaths, adding that the number of positive cases now stands at 19,903. Switzerland has closed schools and many businesses, as well as banning gatherings of more than five people.
  • WHO said countries must avoid a cycle of lockdown, relaxation, and further lock-downs  The organisation called on countries to develop a just transition strategy that gets them in  control of the virus

Odd Coronavirus News Bits : Joe Exotic, 5G Towers and More

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  • Some conspiracy theorists believe 5-G cell phone towers radiation are causing the spread of coronavirus The Sun UK reported: The theory originated last month after a video filmed at a US health conference claimed Africa was not as affected by the disease because it is “not a 5G region”.  The myth was quickly debunked after the World Health Organisation confirmed there were thousands of Covid-19 cases in Africa. The government has also confirmed there is “no evidence to suggest that 5G has anything to do with Covid-19”. Many people evidently believe this theory  still and it’s been reported in England many towers are being set on fire, Sun UK reported. There is a possibility that radiation from towers can lower he immune syatem, however there is zero evidence connecting coronavirus spreading to the 5-G towers
  • A molecular biologist proclaimed Thursday that the Chinese coronavirus could have originated at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, and been leaked, leading to it’s horrific spread around the globe. Richard H. Ebright, a professor of chemical biology at Rutgers University, told The Daily Caller that he believes it is a distinct possibility that an accident in the laboratory in China could have caused the outbreak.
  • The star of “Tiger King”,Joe Exotic , has been place in coronavirus isolation in prison. The Nextflix show  chronicles  the exploits of Joe,  the former private zoo owner and big cat breeder who became enmeshed in a years long feud with an animal-rights activist named Carole Baskin who is widely suspected of murdering her husband. This show has become a craze during the coronavirus pandemic.  Joe  Exotic, who declared himself the “Tiger King” of the US, ended up in prison after being caught up in a federal murder-for-hire plot that appeared to be an elaborate trap put in place by two of Exotic’s erstwhile business associates, and the FBI.  Joe Exotic was recently transferred to the Federal Bureau of Prisons-operated Federal Medical Center Forth Worth in Texas. Exotic had previously been isolated at the Grady County Jail in Chickasha, Okla. The facility “put him on COVID-19 isolation” because “the previous jail he was at, there were cases,” said Dillon Passage, Exotic’s fourth husband, during an appearance on Andy Cohen’s SiriusXM series “Andy Cohen Live
  • From March 20 to 26, the US box office made just $5K, according to Box Office Mojo, at this time last year the weekly box office was  $200 million.
  • CNN host Chris Cuomo gave an update on his coronavirus infection and how he is feeling Thursday night during a CNN special hosted by Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Cuomo said he has suffered pain in the face, blurry vision, and “wicked phantasmagorical experiences” that are not dreams. When I say I saw my father sitting on the end of the bed I would have gradually raised my hand and testify to it under oath. Why? Because of the fever,” Cuomo added.

Governor to take ventilators for NYC as hospitals buckle

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MARINA VILLENUEVE, JOHN LEICESTER and ARITZ PARRA (AP)

With coronavirus deaths surging in New York, the governor announced Friday he will use his authority to seize ventilators and protective gear from private hospitals and companies that aren’t using them, complaining that states are competing against each other for vital equipment in eBay-like bidding wars.

“If they want to sue me for borrowing their excess ventilators to save lives, let them sue me,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. He added that he will eventually return the equipment or compensate the owners.

The executive order he said he would sign represents one of the most aggressive efforts yet in the U.S. to deal with the kind of critical shortages around the world that authorities say have caused health care workers to fall sick and forced doctors in Europe to make life-or-death decisions about which patients get a breathing machine

The number of the people infected in the U.S. reached a quarter-million and the death toll climbed past 6,500, with New York state alone accounting for more than 2,900 dead, a surge of over 560 in just one day. Most of the dead are in New York City, where hospitals are getting swamped with patients and are facing shortages of ventilators.

The move by Cuomo came as the outbreak snapped the United States’ record-breaking hiring streak of nearly 10 years. The U.S. government said employers slashed over 700.000 jobs in March, bringing a swift end to the nation’s 50-year-low unemployment rate

Shortages of such things as masks, gowns and ventilators have led to fierce competition among buyers from Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere.

A regional leader in Paris described the scramble to find masks a “worldwide treasure hunt,” and the French prime minister said he is “fighting hour by hour” to ward off shortages of essential drugs used to keep COVID-19 patients alive.

France canceled its high school exit exam known as the Baccalaureat, a first in the 212-year history of the test.

Spain reported 932 new deaths, down slightly from the record it hit a day earlier. The carnage most certainly included large numbers of elderly who authorities admit are not getting access to the country’s limited breathing machines, which are being used first on healthier, younger patients. More than half of Spain’s death toll of nearly 11,000 has come in the last seven days alone.

In a vast exhibition center in Madrid that was hastily converted into a 1,300-bed field hospital, bed No. 01.30 held patient Esteban Pinaredo, age 87.

“I’m good, I love you,” Pinaredo told his family via Skype. “I will run away as soon as I can.”

The facility’s organizer, Antonio Zapatero, said Spain’s nationwide lockdown must be maintained.

“Otherwise, this is what you are facing,” he said, pointing at the rows of beds.

In some places in Europe, officials began talking tentatively about how to lift lockdowns that have staved off the total collapse of the health systems but have also battered economies.

But Chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking in her first video message after emerging from two weeks of quarantine at home, urged Germans to stay home over Easter, saying it would be irresponsible for her to set a date now for loosening restrictions that include a ban on public gatherings of more than two people.

With forecast glorious spring weather likely to tempt stir-crazy families out of lockdown this weekend, the firm message across the continent remained: “Stay home.” Paris police set up roadblocks out of the city to stop those trying to escape for Easter vacation.

Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who tested positive last week, said in a video message on Twitter that he is feeling better but still has a fever and will remain in isolation.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. But for others, especially older adults and people with health problems, it can cause pneumonia. The World Health Organization said this week that 95% of the deaths in Europe were of people over 60.

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Villenueve reported from Albany, New York. Leicester reported from Le Pecq, France. Associated Press writers around the world contributed.

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Latest News From NY Breaking Coronavirus Update 4/3

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The Empire State building is lit in red and white lights to honor emergency medical workers Tuesday, March 31, 2020, in New York. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)

NYC MAYOR “WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF TIME!”* Mayor Bill de Blasio warned the city would face a massive surge in cases next week with as many as 5,000 or more people in New York City who need to be in ICUs. De Blasio says he asked the White House/Pentagon 10 days ago for reinforcements, including 1,000 nurses, 150 doctors and 300 respiratory therapists, but has not received a firm answer.

“We are running out of time, I think we have literally days to create something that has never existed before, for a crisis this country has never seen before,” he said during an interview on Friday morning. “If that is not done in the coming days, you’re going to see people die who did not need to die, not just in New York, but in many parts of this country.”

*NY COVID-19 UPDATE:* New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said there are now 102,863 coronavirus cases in the state. More than 14,000 patients are currently hospitalized. So far, 2,935 people have died in the state — that’s up from 2,373, Cuomo said. “Highest single increase in the number of deaths since we started,” Cuomo said.

NAMES TO PRAY FOR

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If you have any Tehillim names of people who are hospitalized with COVID-19, please contact YWN with those names to be added to the list. Do NOT send us names from existing lists, and ONLY send us names you know personally. This is for COVID-19 victims ONLY. SEND THE NAMES TO [email protected]

Aharon Shaul ben Rachel
Avrohom Aharon HaLevi ben Rasha Roiza
Aharon Yehoshua ben Ettel
Aharon ben Golda
Aharon Tzvi ben Liba Sara
Aharon Yaakov ben Bonia
Aaron Mordechai ben Golda
Asher ben Bracha Sima
Arye ben Chaya Rochel
Avrohom Yosef ben Rochel Leah
Aaron ben Chana
Aharon ben Pessel Leiah
Avrohom ben Malka
Avraham Lev ben Sara Maya
Avraham Meir HaKohen ben Aliza
Avrhom Arye ben Tzipora
Avrohom Shmuel ben Rochel
Avraham ben Yehudis
Avigder Sosson Meir ben Rochel Leah
Avraham Abba ben Gittel
Avrohom Shloima ben Baila
Avichai Yisachar ben Rachel
Aharon ben Mindel
Arlene Chana bas Leah
Aharon ben Giti
Aharon ben Soro
Abraham ben Chana Rivka
Avrohom Yekusiel ben Gittel
Aharon ben Rochel
Avraham Nachman ben Rivka Reizel
Aryeh Zev ben Aidel
Aharon ben Chana Golda
Alexander ben Sora
Aaron Ben Toiba Ettel
Adina bat Pelka
Avraham ben Pesha Faga
Aryeh Leib ben Chaya Sara
Aliza Miriam bas Yocheved
Avraham Ben Esther Malka
Azriel Dovid ben Shulamis
Avraham Shraga Feivil ben Leah
Avraham Meir ben Chana
Aharon Moshe ben Chaya Bina
Aaron Eliyahu ben Leah
Avraham ben Shaindel
Avigdor Yiddel ben Raizel
Aharon Shulem ben Sarah
Ahron Arya ben Chaya Tzortel
Asher Zelig ben Shaindel
Avrohom Yaakov ben Golda Leah
Aidel bas Sarah
Avraham Rachamim ben Yeshua
Aron ben Chana Golda
Avrohom Aron ben Yenta
Abraham ben Bolisa
Ahron ben Yenta
Asher ben Devorah
Avraham ben Miryam
Avraham Dovid ben Chava
Avraham ben Gila
Alexander ben Nissel Leah
Avraham ben Mindel
Avraham ben Rachel
Ahron Shmuel Yeshaya ben Chava
Avraham Zechariah Menachem ben Sara Aidel
Alter Chaim Mordechai ben Rochel
Aryeh Yehoshua ben Chaya Aidel
Avraham Mordechai ben Slava
Avraham Yirmiyahu ben Chava
Avrohom Yaakov ben Chaya
Avraham Baruch ben Sara Rivka
Avraham Meir ben Gittel Leiba
Avraham Yitzchak ben Chana
Avrohom Kaddish ben Malka Baila
Aron Daniel ben Latifa
Avrum Ezriel Meir ben Miriam Leah
Aharon Yaakov ben Yocheved
Ahron Moshe ben Leah Zelda
Aharon ben Yenta
Aharon Peretz ben Chaya Mirel Yitel
Aharon ben Leah
Adina Shaindel bas Sara
Akiva Dov ben Miriam
Amrum ben Ester
Alta Devory bas Chana Hanyu
Amram ben Miriam
Ben Tzion Chaim ben Shayna Necha
Bina bas Chana
Baruch ben Serach
Boruch Tuvia ben Leah
Binyomin ben Camila
Bracha Basya bas Chaya Rivkah
Baruch ben Tzipporah
Binyamin Elimilech Ben Yehudis
Boruch Naftali ben Devorah Chava
Binyamin Reuven ben Veronique Rivka Julie
Binyumen Arye ben Etye
Burech ben Miriam
Batsheva bas Rochel Leah
Binyomin ben Chaya Rivka
Baruch ben Sarah
Binyomin Elimelech ben Malka
Binyomin Mende HaLevi ben Simona Chaya
Baruch Boris ben Shushana
Baila Kreindel bas Alte Tziporah Rochel Leah
Ben Tzion ben Masha Yehudis
Benzion ben Gittel
Bracha bat Frayda
Bracha bas Saryl
Binyomin Meir ben Etel Chaya
Boruch Mordechai ben Masha Hinda
Chaim Dov ben Kraindel
Chaim Meir ben Fraida Rivka
Chana Leba bas Rivka
Chana Rivka bas Rachel Esther
Chaim Yitzchak ben Frieda Feiga Leah
Chaim Shimon Chanaya Yeshua ben Leah Eida
Chaim Mordechai ben Rochel
Chaim Elozor ben Aidel Chaya Mallah
Chaim Levi ben Chana Priva
Chananya Yom Tov Lipa ben Chana Mindel
Chaya Geetel bas Recha Devorah
Chana Reizel bas Breindel
Chaim Moshe ben Ratza
Chaim Moshe ben Perel
Ceti bas Miriam
Chaim Shmuel ben Fraidel Leah
Chananya Yom Tov ben Pessel Leiah
Chana Nechama bas Figlu Chaya
Chaya Faiga bas Chana Reva
Chana bas Adele
Chaim Yosef Dovid ben Shifra
Chanyanya Yom Tov Lipa ben Esther
Channa Malka bat Pepi
Chana bas Henneh
Chaim Nisan ben Basya Leah
Chaim Avigdor Ben Leah
Chana bas Miriam
Chaim Eliyahu ben Tzirel
Chana Baila bas Basha
Chaim ben Roiza
Chana bas Devorah
Chaim Yaniv ben Varda
Chasya Rochel bas Chaya
Chaim Isaac ben Yenta
Chaim Yosef ben Feiga Esther
Chaya Leah bat Sarah
Chaim Mayer ben Leah
Chana bat Raisel
Chaya bas Sarah
Chaim Alexander ben tons
Chana Pesel Miriam bas Chaya Sarah
Chaim Yitzchock ben Rivka Yenta
Chana bas Miriam Perel
Chava Rochel bas Yenta
Chaim Yisrael Shimon ben Chava Chaya Perel
Chaim Tuvia ben Tzirel Perel
Chana Teibe bat Nechama Leibe
Chaim Tzadok ben Tzirel
Chaim ben Sara
Chaim Zalman ben Hinda
Chaim Yaakov ben Sara Rivka
Chana Sarah bas Sheindel Pesha
Chaim ben Rachel
Chaim Asher ben Shprintza Perel
Chanah Sol bat Sarah
Chana Sara bas Fayga
Chana bas Sara
Chaim Yaakov Zev ben Sara
Chaim Yechezkel Shraga ben Rochel Esther
Chava Ratza bat Sheindal Baila
Chiem Burach ben Devora Peral
Chaim Lazer ben Pesha
Chaim Nachum Naftali ben Sara Ettel
Chaya Tzipora Shaindel bas Chana Leah
Chaya bas Elka
Chaim Nochum Naftoli ben Sarah Ettel
Chava bas Aviva
Chaim Dov ben Tzivia Trana
Chaya Feiga Feigel bas Sarah Rivka
Chaim Yitzchok ben Baila
Chaim Yosef ben Chaya Shaindel
Chaim Yehudah ben Esther
Chaim Simcha ben Shoshana Ralla
Chaya Hinde Udel bat Bracha
Dominique Messaouda bat Sultana
Dovid ben Chaya Rivka
Daniel Yosef ben Pesha
Dovid ben Feiga
Devorah Bat Irit
Dovid Yitzchok ben Zissel
Dovber ben Liba Raizel
Don Zev ben Pesil Penina
Dovid ben Shoshana
Daniel ben Emily
Dovid ben Zisla Mariasha
Devorah bas Chili
Dovid Mordechai ben Matil Yehudis
Dovid ben Ettel
Dovid Meir HaKohen ben Chanah
Dovid ben Feigah Rachel
Dov Shraga ben Chaya Tzivia
David ben Rivkah
Devorah Nechama bas Chana
Dovid ben Ella Freidel
Dovid ben Serel
Dovid Menachem Levi ben Leah
Daniel ben Ilana
Daniel Joseph ben Menasche
Dov Ber ben Mattel Pessel
Dovid Aryeh ben Rochel Sara
David Tzvi ben Zisel
David Shimon ben Yehudis
Dovid Binyamin ben Doba Faiga
Devorah Basya bas Chaya
Devora bas Sarah
Dovid Eliezer ben Sosha Fruma
Don ben Golda
Eliezer Yehuda ben Chaya
Esther Roza bas Sara Mindel
Eliezer ben Anela Surah
Elazar Chanoch Yechezkel ben Zahava
Eliezer ben Mohtaram
Esther bat Yamina
Epharim ben Leah
Eliezer Yehoshua ben Perel Bluma
Esther bat Mazal
Eliezer Nosson Ben Tzirel
Eliyahu Yosef Chaim Yedidya ben Sara Marina
Eliyohu Pinchos ben Miriam
Esther bas Penina
Eluzer ben Anele Sara
Esther Raizel bas Chaya Malka
Ester Sarah bat Divora Feiga
Eliezer ben Shaina Miriam
Eilan Avreich ben Nava
Eliza bas Rivka
Esther bas Penina
Ezriel Dovid ben Shulamis
Eliezer ben Gruna Feiga
Esther bas Sarah
Elchonon Shimon ben Baila
Elchonon ben Rivka
Esther Tzina Eige bas Sarah
Edmond ben Rachel
Elchanan Hillel ben Sarah
Esther Shaindel bas Kreindel
Eliyahu ben Talia
Eliyahu Yitzchak Yisroel ben Rivka Shprintza
Eliezer Chaim ben Tziperl
Ettel bas Sheindal
Elinatan Yisroel Shlomo Yaacov ben Malka
Eliezer ben Faiga
Esther Sima bas Chaya Hadassah
Efraim Demikreh Eduard Demikreh Edik ben Rivka
Etan Moshe ben Hila Hinda
Elimelech Dovid ben Frumit Fraida
Esther bas Malka
Elimelech Mordechai ben Shulamis
Elazar ben Gamileh
Esther Sima bas Chaya Haddasa
Eliezer ben Kayla
Eliezer Shlomo ben Esther Yutta Malia
Eliyahu Yaakov ben Miriam Gittel
Ezra Binyomin ben Zisel
Ella bat Mafrat
Faiga Bas Rivkah
Freyda Rifka bas Gittel
Fleur Perl Penina bat Helen Simcha Chaya
Fraida Dubra bas Razel Rivah
Fradel bas Sara
Faiga Malka bas Glickel
Gershon ben Miriam
Gimpel Mordechai Daniel Ben Sora Ita
Gershon Avrohom ben Miriam Malka
Gittel bas Ruchel
Gavriel ben Liza Leah
Gershon ben Sarah
Gruna Feiga bas Bluma
Gittel bas Mindel
Gur Aryeh ben Elka
Gedalia ben Chaya Rivka
Gavriel Yonason Halevi ben Naomi
Gittel Sheinfel bas Chana Malka
George ben Maria
Galia bat Goltaj
Gershon Dovid ben Bluma Sheva Elka
Harriet bat Lillian
Henna Devorah Perel Chaya bas Esther Pesel
Hanan ben Margot
Hana bas Mazel
Henoch Yisroel ben Esther Necha
Henna bas Malia
Hadas Chana bas Rivka Chaya
Ita bas Leah
Ita bas Shifra
Israel David ben Miriam
Irit bat Dorith
Iris bat Barno
Isaiah Eliyahu ben Rivkah Rochel
Isar Rifoel ben Liba
Jacques ben Alice
Jaya Olga bat Linda
Jaim Mordechai ben Leah
Leah bas Miriam
Leah bas Chaya
Leah Devorah bas Chana
Leon ben Emilia
Leah Naomi bas Sarah
Leah Eidel bas Rivka Etya
Leah bas Tobah Yehudis
Levi ben Shira
Liba bas Freida Milka
Leah Sima Charna bas Risha
Leah bas Rivka
Leah Chaya bas Rivka
Leib ben Rachel
Moshe Sholom Eliezer ben Shoshana Roiza
Moshe Eliezer HaLevi ben Esther Tziporah
Moshe Yaakov Yosef ben Rus
Moshe Bentzion ben Rochel Yehudis
Michoel ben Dina
Mordechai Dovid ben Leah Pesia
Menachem Mordechai ben Miriam
Moshe ben Rozette
Mordechai Leib ben Miriam
Menashe Dov ben Rasha Riva
Moshe Mordechai ben Shaina Baila
Menasha Yaakov ben Liba
Moshe ben Rachel
Meir ben Esther
Mordichai Yehuda Leib ben Rivka
Mordechai ben Chaya Sara
Miriam bas Penina
Moshe Shaul ben Sara
Mazal bat Leah
Miriam bas Ceti
Mordechai ben Baila
Mordechai ben Sara
Miriam bas Leah
Mordechai ben Miriam
Moshe ben Leah
Mordechai Leib ben Feiga
Mordechai David ben Nurit Hensha
Moshe Yechezkel ben Rechel Chava
Moshe Shimon ben Sara Leah
Malka Feiga bas Gitel
Mordche Zvi Binyumen ben Reizel
Mordechai ben Clara
Matisyahu ben Rochel Leah
Menasha ben Dina Malka
Mordechai Yehuda ben Alona
Moshe ben Baila Etel
Meir Isamar ben Chana Roiza
Moshe Yitzchok ben Soro Tzvetel
Menachem Mendel ben Masha
Moshe Ezrah ben Esther
Meir ben Chaya
Mordechai ben Chava
Mordechai Dovid ben Matil Yehudis
Mordechai ben Freida Reiza
Moshe ben Sarah
Moshe ben Rivkeh
Mattel bas Klerel
Mordechai ben Rina
Moshe ben Mattel Shaindel
Mayer Dovid ben Fruma Hadas
Moshe Dov ben Blima
Moshe Mordechai ben Haddasah
Mina Rella bas Elka
Moshe Aharon ben Rivka
Meir Yonah ben Chaya Sara
Mordechai ben Baila hasya
Marcos Mordejay ben Rina
Mordechai ben Esther Gittle
Meyer ben Perel
Meir Nachman ben Rivka
Mordechai ben Tamar
Mordechai Gershon ben Pesha
Mordechai ben Latifeh
Mordechai ben Raizel
Michoel Shmuel ben Rivka
Moshe ben Yocheved
Masha Esther bas Chaya Mirel
Masha Tzivya bas Hentcha
Mordechai Menachem ben Esther
Moshe Aaron ben Naomi
Mayer Shulem Yitzchok ben Yitta Chaya
Malka Gittel bas Pessel
Moshe Yosef ben Leah
Mattel Pessel bas Chaya Sara
Miriam Leah bas Rivka
Menachem Mendel ben Yamimah Baila
Moshe ben Chaya Mirel Yitel
Meir Peretz ben Henya
Menoach Yehuda ben Chana
Meir ben Chava Leah
Menachem Mendel ben Devora
Masha Esther bas Chaya Mirel
Miriam bas Esther
Mafrat bat Miriam
Matisyahu ben Rivka
Mafrat bat Tzipporah
Michoel ben Esther
Nehama Dinah bat Tsipora
Nochum ben Chaya Gittel
Nissim ben Daya Odet
Nechemia ben Leah Chasya
Nochum ben Tzartel
Nesanel ben Charna Raizel
Noson David ben Chaya Breindle
Naftoli Hertz Anshel ben Devorah
Nina bat Maria
Nochum ben Rishka
Nochum ben Sara Ettel
Nisim ben Chana
Nosson Moshe ben Sasha Mindel
Nisan Leib ben Chana
Nader Shlomo ben Miriam Nane Joon
Noson Dov ben Soro
Nechemia Rafael ben Ita Tziporah
Noach ben Yuzpah Devorah
Noson ben Rus
Ovadia ben Sara Mina
Osnas bas Rus
Olga bat Linda
Ovadia ben Sara Mindel
Osher Yaakov ben Esther
Pesach Yehoshua ben Tovah Chaya
Pina Rella bas Miriam Guta
Parvanah bas Nosrat
Pinchas Shalom ben Raizel Rochel
Pepi bat Yehudit
Pinchas Zelig ben Chaya Zissel
Pessil bas Frumat Rivka
Pinchas Meir ben Chana
Pinchas Avrohom ben Hendel
Pinchas Baruch ben Sara Esther
Perel bas Rivka
Pessel bas Shoshana Tova
Pesach Yaakov ben Sarah leah
Pinchas Levi ben Hencha
Pesach ben Chana
Peretz Zalman ben Michla
Rochel bas Malka
Rivka bas Hinda
Rami Rahamim ben Shoshana
Rochel Mindel bas Faigel Raizel
Rachamim ben Katerine Rivkah
Rachel bat Tsipora
Reuven Shmuel ben Mazal
Rochel bas Leah
Reuven Shmuel ben Chaya Sara
Rochel bas Matel
Reuven Dov ben Chana Chaya
Raphael Yoel ben Nichole Nechama
Rivka bas Fradel
Rivka Zlata bas Dabbah
Reuven ben Rachel
Rachamim Rami ben Shoshana
Rachel Esther bas Sarah Zeesil Leah
Rachel bas Gamlielah
Refael ben Margarita
Rachamim ben Esther
Rechel bas Baila
Rajel bat ribka
Raitzel bas Tzirel
Ruth Simchah bat Ephrat
Rochel bas Alte Chaya
Rafael ben Sarah
Rachel bas Faiga
Reuven Dovid ben Yehudis
Refael ben Esther
Rochel bas Miriam
Rifka bas Raizel
Ruth bas Chana
Ronni ben Yonina
Raphael Dovid ben Etta Riva
Rivka bas Yachat
Rafi Rafael ben Miriam Nane Joon
Rivka Refaela bas Leah
Rivka Chaya bas Leah
Raya bas Chaya
Refoel Eliyahu ben Esther
Rivka bas Shaindel
Saadya Yeshoshua ben Ahava Rivka
Shabsi ben Esther
Sholom Yisroel ben Bracha
Simche ben Daniele
Shlomo ben Tziviya
Shoshana Fraida bas Malka Tziporah
Simcha Yossel ben Malka Chana
Shmouel Halevi ben Gretel
Shmuel ben Rachel Leah
Shimon ben Chaya Miriam
Shamshen Raphael ben Miriam Chana
Shmuel Leib ben Michal Dina
Sara Mindel bas Hinda
Shraga Dovid Yechezkel ben Shoshana Roisa
Sasha Yonah bas Kuna Chana
Shlomo Gershon ben Duba Mirel
Shlomo ben Shoshana
Shlomo ben Rivka
Shulamis bas Sora Leah
Sholom ben Sara
Shlomo Tzvi ben Elka Yehudis
Shalom Mordechai ben Zelda
Shalom Yosef ben Hendel
Sema Sasson Simcha ben Mafrat
Shraga Tzvi ben Zissel
Shiran Sara bas Ora
Shimon Ben Miriam Hendel
Shulem Eliezer Menachem ben Toba Leah
Shprintza bas Tila
Shaindel Raichel bas Figlu Chaya
Shlomo Elozer ben Miriam
Simcha Daniel ben Kayla
Shmuel ben Margareet
Sharona bat Yehudis
Shmuel Mordechai ben Miriam
Shraga Feivel ben Yehudis
Sion ben Tova
Shlomo Chaim ben Frumit
Shimon ben Baila
Sholom Dovber ben Leah
Shai Avrohom ben Esther
Shmuel ben Raizel
Simon ben Sultana
Shmuel Dovid ben Faiga
Shmuel Dovid Ben Yehudis Faiga
Shimon ben Esther
Shmaryahu Yehoshua Heshel ben Tova
Shlomo ben Esther Rochel
Sofia bas Grazia
Shabsi ben Malkah
Shlomo ben Freida
Shlomo Chizkiyahu ben Mazal
Shaul ben Sara
Shimon Aharon ben Adda Necha
Shloima Mayer ben Raizel
Shulamis bas Chasya Rivka
Shmuel ben Eidel
Shalom ben Yamna
Shlomo ben Nina
Shamai ben Toba Kreindel
Saadia ben Miriam
Shimon Shalom ben Michal Dena
Sima bas Chaya Hadassah
Svetlana Ora bat Sarah
Sidney ben Bahia
Sarah Chana Pesil bas Alta Bina
Shlomo ben Latife
Shmuel ben Bluma
Shmuel Zanvil ben Malka Sheindel
Shoshana Lottie bat Fay
Shlomo ben Bezalel
Shmuel Tzvi ben Chana Nicha
Stephane Yaacov ben Martine Haya
Schneur Zalman Yehuda ben Hinda Yocheved
Shmuel Abba ben Pessel
Shimon ben Esther
Shaul Yedidya Elazar ben Alta Esther Etta
Shneur Zalman ben Slava
Shmuel Zanvil ben Etya
Shimel Meir ben Matl Esther
Shimon ben Malka
Sara bas Rivkah
Shlomo Zev Asher ben Devora
Shaul Zev ben Devorah
Soro bas Raizel
Shoshana Raizel bas Chaya
Shmuel ben Chaya
Shraga Feivel ben Sora Rivka
Saura bas Chaya
Shaindel bat Sara
Tzvi Yehudah ben Rivkah
Tzvi Hersh ben Ruchuma
Tzvi Yitzchok ben Pesha
Tzvi ben Fraida Leah
Tilla bas Toba Nicha
Tzvi ben Yachat
Tirtsa bas Rachel Brigitte
Tziporah Tzivia bas Rochel Leah
Tzvi ben Hinda
Tzvi ben Chana
Tzvi Yisroel Dovid ben Fayga
Tzvi Hirsch ben Sima Raizel
Tzion ben Tova
Tziona Marusa bas Maste Esther
Therese Tamo bat Suzanne Mazal
Tzivia Daaba bat Yenta
Tzvi Yisrael ben Ita Faiga
Tanja bat Nina
Tzvi Chaim ben Sheindel
Tamar Tziporah bas Chaya
Tzvi Chaim ben Halena Sheindal
Tiqua bat Maatuka Helen
Tzadkah Sidney ben Bahieh Beckey
Tzvi ben Gittel
Tzvi Yosef ben Esther
Victor Yehia ben Sultana
Vladik ben Nina
Yitzchak ben Shifra
Yisroel ben Sara
Yehuda Aryeh ben Devorah Leah
Yisroel Moishe ben Esther Chaya
Yehoram ben Donna
Yaakov ben Malka
Yosef Moshe ben Sima
Yosef Yitzchock HaLevi be Chaya Klara
Yechezkel ben Gittel
Yisachor Chaim ben Esther Malka (Dr Greenberg)
Yona Eliyahu ben Sara
Yisroel Yizchok ben Gitel
Yisroel Yaakov Gershon ben Rivka
Yehuda Leib ben Menucha Rochel
Yakov Yehuda ben Chana
Yaakov Shalom Ben Gittel Udyah
Yoel Simhon ben Yaacov
Yakkov Meir ben Mala
Yehonoson Gavriel Ben Naomi
Yosef ben Tziporah
Yakov Yosef ben Miriam Chana
Yitzchak ben Yehudis
Yitzchak ben Esther – Dr. Wurzburger
Yehuda Boruch ben Esther
Yosef Halevi ben Chava
Yisroel Chaim ben Leah
Yakov ben Zohara
Yocheved Leah bas Baila
Yisroel Meir ben Sima Udel
Yitzchok Uziel ben Rivka
Yitzchok Dov Eliyahu ben Chana
Yehuda Yitzchok ben Matel
Yehudah Daniel ben Bunya
Yitzchok ben Fruma Elka
Yitzchok Meir ben Raizel
Yaakov Dovid ben Soroh
Yosef Meir ben Mattel
Yosef ben Batya
Yehudah Leibish Chaim ben Ruchama
Yosef Shlomo ben Fayga Yitel
Yisroel Yechezkel ben Chaya
Yitzchak Isaac ben Chana Alta Feiga
Yosef Mordechai ben Leah
Yael Ella bas Sarah Shaindel
Yosef Ben Monavar
Yosef Zindel ben Serl
Yaakov Yochanan ben Figlu Chaya
Yosef Tzvi ben Chana
Yosef Benyamin Ilan ben Emily
Yakov ben Leah Devora
Yitzchak Menachem ben Leah
Yisroel Yakov ben Feiga Yita
Yisroel ben Mafrat
Yitzchak ben Rochel Miriam
Yicheved bas Chana
Yisrael Tzvi ben Yehudis
Yosef Gad’le ben Sara Devorah
Yitzchok ben Alte Nechama Shulamis
Yehoshua Leib ben Miriam
Yisrael Simcha ben Shifra
Yaakov ben Yaffa
Yehuda ben Esther Yitel
Yaakov ben Yente Layeh
Yael bas Mazal Tov
Yaakov Mayer Yerachmiel ben Chaya
Yisroel Dov ben Liba
Yaakov ben Yaffa
Yekusiel Yehuda ben Hinda Leah
Yitzchok Mendel ben Sara Baila
Yechiel Michel ben Chatzil
Yosef Yitzchok ben Basha
Yitzchok ben Baila
Yehudah Chaim ben Esther
Yakov Yosef ben Esther Malka
Yakov Yitzhak ben Chyla Golda
Yaakov ben Rivka
Yitzchak ben Ester Tera
Yisrael ben Pearl
Yechiel Dovid ben Shaindel
Yerachmiel Shimon ben Rochel
Yaakov ben Martel
Yehuda Reuven ben Miriam Chana
Yechiel Moshe ben Ritzel
Yitzchok Elchonon ben Rivka Taibel
Yehuda Leib ben Menucha Rochem
Yaakov Aharon ben Fradel Nesha Bracha
Yisroel ben Necha
Yehuda Aryeh ben Sheindal
Yehoshua ben Lotza Halevi
Yechiel Michel ben Miriam Rivka
Yocheved bat Batsheva
Yoseph Duvid ben Yita Miriam
Yosef ben Sultana
Yehudis Simcha bas Sara
Yosef Laibish ben Chaya Shprintza
Yehudit Yael bat Golda
Yehudah Yitzchok ben Rachel
Yitzchok Naftali ben Sara
Yaakov Eliyahu ben Rochel
Yosef Tzvi ben Mirel
Yehuda Leib ben Yehudis
Yehoshua Zisha ben Malka Beila
Yakov Chai ben Mazal
Yosef Zvi ben Chana Hanala
Yona ben Zehava
Yom Tov Lipa ben Chaya
Yitzhak ben Soroya
Yisroel ben Shterna Sara
Yaakov Yisroel ben Esther Tica
Yehuda Aryeh ben Tamar Tziporah
Yitzchok Eliyahu ben Chaya Sora
Yitzchok ben Esther
Yocheved bas Alte Tziporah Rochel Leah
Yaakov Yitzchak Dovid ben Toyba
Yosef Yitzchak ben Sima Leah
Yosef Meir ben Yuta Elka
Yisroel Menachem ben Bracha Mindel
Yosef Tzvi ben Miriam
Yechiel Dovid ben Shaindel
Yosef Sholom ben Sheva Etya
Yaakov Yitzchak Dovid ben Toiba Gittel
Yitzchok ben Nechama
Yochanon ben Raizel
Yaakov Meir ben Rishka
Yaakov Naftuli ben Malka Baila
Yeshaya Reuven ben Zelda
Yechiel Michael Ze’ev ben Devorah
Yitzchak Tzvi ben Rivka Tzivia
Yehuda Leib ben Basya
Yaakov Itzjak ben Ruth Jasibe
Yehoshua Baruch ben yitta Chaya
Yitzchok Naftoli ben Sarah
Yuval ben Addi
Yaakov Nachman ben Yuta
Yehoshua Mordechai ben Shaindel Raizel
Yosef Alexander ben Rachel
Yisroel Mordechai ben Malka
Yisroel Zecharia ben Ruchna Devorah
Yosef ben Mazli
Yosef Dov Ber ben Devorah Goldah
Yosef Yehuda ben Fradel
Yissacher Chaim ben Esther Malka
Yitzhak ben Mazal
Yaakov Shia ben Chana
Yehoshua Zelig Halevi ben Tzirel
Yosef Yehonasan Hakohen ben Zissel
Yitzchok Tuvia ben Rickel
Yoel Nosson ben Malka
Yehudah Aryeh ben Malkah
Yisroel Dovid ben Roiza
Yaakov Aryeh ben Freida Rivka
Yosef Arye ben Ester Hentche
Yaakov ben Tova
Yosef Dovid ben Esther
Yosef ben Zilpa
Zev Velvel ben Rochel
Zohar ben Nava
Zahava bat Dvora
Zipora Tsivia bas Rachel Leah
Zina bat Mariah
Zev ben Matel Sheva
Zalman Yaacov ben Chana

Operation Old Folks: Thousands of Elderly to be Transferred Out of Haredi City

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 BY David Isaac

Bnei Brak, the city of ultra-Orthodox, or haredi, Jews has seen the highest infection rate of coronavirus. In order to protect its more vulnerable residents, the elderly, Israeli government ministers decided on Thursday to approve an operation to move thousands of them out of the city.

Interior Minister Aryeh Deri and Defense Minister Naftali Bennett decided that 4,500 residents 80 years-old and above will be taken to special quarantine hotels where they will ride out the pandemic in better health circumstances than if they remained in the city where the coronavirus rages.

An entire IDF division, the 98th, has been deployed to Bnei Brak. It will help with the transfer.

Reports say the government debated imposing a total lockdown of the city but decided against it for the time being. Channel 13’s Barak Ravid reports that Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan has prepared an emergency ordinance for the government’s approval that would give it the power to declare Bnei Brak and cities like it “restricted areas.”

According to Ministry of Health statistics, one out of seven confirmed coronavirus patients in Israel are residents of the city of Bnei Brak.

Ran Sa’ar, CEO of Maccabi, one of Israel’s largest health providers, made a shocking declaration on Thursday, estimating that 38 percent of Bnei Brak residents, or 75,000 people, are infected with the coronavirus.

Haredi cities, especially Bnei Brak, were late to take action in the face of the fast-spreading pandemic. The strictly religious haredi community shuns televisions, smartphones and the internet. Partly for this reason the warnings of the government reached them late.

The haredi community was also more susceptible to the virus’s spread given its emphasis on communal prayer and other activities that brought hundreds together.

It was only at the start of this week that a change in behavior began to be noted within the city. The change has been credited to the call from community leaders to follow the Health Ministry’s guidelines.

On Sunday, for example, Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, the leader of the Ashkenazic haredi, ordered his followers to pray in private, a remarkable decision given the religious injunction to pray in groups of 10.

The community also saw the toll coronavirus took among its co-religionists in Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods outside of Israel in places like Brooklyn.(World Israel News)

Read more at: worldisraelnews.com

 

Netanyahu, senior officials quarantined after Israel’s health minister tests positive for coronavirus

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Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Health minister Yaakov Litzman hold a video conference with European Leaders in order to discuss challenges and cooperation between the countries in dealing with the coronavirus COVID-19, at the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, on March 9, 2020. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90 *** Local Caption *** ???? ??? ?????? ?????? ?????? ???? ????? ?? ??????? ?????? ????? ???? ???? ???????

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mossad intelligence agency chief Yossi Cohen, National Security Council head Meir Ben-Shabbat, Health Ministry director general Moshe Bar Siman-Tov, head of Public Health Services Sigal Sadetsky and head of Hadassah-University Medical Center professor Zev Rotstein all entered self-quarantine on Thursday, after Israeli Health Minister Yaakov Litzman tested positive for coronavirus.

Litzman, 71, whose wife Chava also tested positive for coronavirus, was reported to be in good condition. None of the other leaders were yet reporting symptoms, and many were set to be quarantined in their offices so they could continue their work on behalf of the country

Due to late adoption of social distancing practices, Israel’s ultra-Orthodox community, of which Litzman is a member, has been particularly hard hit in recent days. In the largely ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak, 900 people have been diagnosed with coronavirus, including 177 in just the past 24 hours—which means one out of every seven infected Israelis is from the city.

To highlight the high rate: While Bnai Brak has under 200,000 residents, the 900,000-person city of Jerusalem has 916 confirmed coronavirus cases.

Due to Bnei Brak’s high infection rate, Netanyahu on Wednesday evening instituted a strict quarantine on the city. In a televised address, he also advised all Israelis to wear masks or other face coverings when out in public.

During his address, Netanyahu also said the government would issue small stipends to pensioners and NIS 500 ($137) for each minor child in a family, with payments made up to four children.

Additionally, anyone arriving from abroad as of Thursday will be required to enter quarantine at a hotel dedicated to the purpose for 14 days, a restriction Netanyahu announced the same day reports revealed he had vetoed a similar plan tabled by Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett.

Netanyahu reiterated that Israelis should maintain social distancing even with their own family members, urging people not to invite elderly grandparents or bring their children in national or army service home for the Passover holiday.

Netanyau beseeched the public to heed Health Ministry directives, saying it could make a big difference in differentiating Israel from countries currently facing massive and growing infection rates, somberly noting that America is forecast to lose 100,000 to 250,000 people to the virus in the next few weeks. “That’s the lighter forecast,” he warned.

As of Thursday morning, 6,211 Israelis were diagnosed with coronavirus, with 107 in serious condition and 83 on ventilators. Two more Israelis died from the virus, raising Israel’s toll to 32.

According to the Health Ministry, 3,201 medical staff are in quarantine, down from 3,498, including 701 doctors and 1,138 nurses, and 900 new nurses have been licensed to practice under an accelerated program.

We need help: Economic, health crises grow as cases top 1M

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MICHAEL R. SISAK, LORI HINNANT and MARK SHERMAN AP

The coronavirus outbreak has thrown 10 million Americans out of work in just two weeks in the swiftest, most stunning collapse the U.S. job market has ever witnessed, and the public health crisis deepened in New York City, where a funeral home in a hard-hit neighborhood had 185 bodies stacked up Thursday — more than triple normal capacity.

The dire news of a record-shattering 6.6 million new unemployment claims, on top of last week’s unprecedented 3.3 million, came as economists warned unemployment could reach levels not seen since the Depression.

Competition for scarce ventilators, masks and other protective gear seemed to grow more desperate and deaths mounted with alarming speed in Italy, Spain and New York, the most lethal hot spot in the United States, with nearly 2,400 lives lost.

The mounting economic fallout almost certainly signals the onset of a global recession, with job losses that are likely to dwarf those of the Great Recession more than a decade ago.

“My anxiety is through the roof right now, not knowing what’s going to happen,” said Laura Wieder, laid off from her job managing a now-closed sports bar in Bellefontaine, Ohio.

About half of all working Americans report some kind of income loss affecting them or a member of their household because of the epidemic, and poor people and those without college degrees are especially likely to have lost a job, according to a poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

With over 240,000 people infected in the U.S. and the death toll topping 5,800, sobering preparations were under way. The Federal Emergency Management Agency asked the Pentagon for 100,000 body bags because of the possibility funeral homes will be overwhelmed, the military said.

Corpses in white plastic were already overwhelming the Daniel J. Schaefer Funeral Home in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, on Thursday. Usually equipped to handle 40-60 bodies at a time, it was taking care of 185. Masked workers fielded phoned calls and handled file folders labeled “COVID-19” in yellow highlighter.

wner Pat Marmo said he’s been begging families to insist hospitals hold their dead loved ones as long as possible: “This is a state of emergency,” he said. “We need help.”

The Democratic Party pushed its nominating convention back a month, to mid-August. Federal authorities proposed a $611,000 fine against the Seattle-area nursing home connected to at least 40 coronavirus deaths, accusing it of infractions that included failure to report and rapidly manage the outbreak. And a days-long standoff in Florida was resolved when passengers aboard two cruise ships that have had several coronavirus cases and four deaths won permission to come ashore.

Elsewhere around the world, the number of people applying for welfare benefits in Britain increased nearly tenfold to almost 1 million in the past couple of weeks. At least a million in Europe are estimated to have lost their jobs over the same period, and the actual number is probably far higher. Spain alone added over 300,000 to its unemployment rolls in March.

But the job losses there appear to be far smaller than in the U.S. because of Europe’s greater social safety nets.

With its health care system in dire shape, Spain reported a record one-day number of deaths, 950, bringing its overall toll to about 10,000, despite signs that the infection rate is slowing.

Italy recorded 760 more deaths, for a total of 13,900, the worst of any country, but new infections continued to level off.

France recorded a running total of about 4,500 deaths in hospitals, with 471 in the past day. But officials expect the overall toll to jump significantly because they are only now starting to count deaths in nursing homes and other facilities for older people.

White House coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said U.S. infection data suggest not enough Americans are heeding social distancing guidelines, and the country must do better in order to emulate those European nations that have begun “to bend their curves.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned that New York could run out of breathing machines in six days. He complained that states are competing against each other for protective gear and breathing machines, or are being outbid by the federal government, in a competition he likened to being on eBay.

In France, a top health official in the country’s hard-hit eastern region said American officials swooped in at a Chinese airport to spirit away a planeload of masks that France had ordered.

Nine leading European university hospitals warned they will run out of essential medicines for COVID-19 patients in intensive care in less than two weeks.

A shipment of nearly 5,900 medical masks that Alabama’s Montgomery County received from the U.S. government stockpile was unusable because of dry rot, the emergency management director said. The masks had a 2010 expiration date, according to the city of Montgomery.

The Trump administration was formalizing new guidance to recommend Americans wear coverings such as non-medical masks, T-shirts or bandannas over their mouths and noses when out in public, while reserving medical-grade masks, particularly the short-in-supply N95 variety, for those dealing directly with the sick.

Trump invoked the Defense Production Act on Thursday in hopes of boosting production of medical-grade masks by Minnesota-based 3M to assist first responders.

Washington is also trying to crack down on a growing black market for protective medical supplies, Defense Production Act policy coordinator Peter Navarro said.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. But for others, especially older adults and people with health problems, it can cause severe symptoms like pneumonia. Over 200,000 people worldwide have recovered, by Johns Hopkins’ count.

With large portions of America under lockdown, job losses for the world’s biggest economy could double to 20 million and unemployment could spike to as high as 15% by the end of the month, many economists have said. Unemployment in the U.S. hasn’t been that high since the tail end of the Depression, just before the U.S. entered World War II.

Roughly 90% of the U.S. population is now under stay-at-home orders, and many factories, restaurants, stores and other businesses are closed or have seen sales shrivel.

Laid-off workers can tap money made available in the $2.2 trillion rescue measure passed by Congress. It adds $600 a week to unemployment benefits, extends eligibility to 39 weeks and for the first time wraps in part-timers and workers in the so-called gig economy, such as Uber drivers.

Achsa Febrero, a Subway worker at a rest stop Fairfield, Conn., is among the millions laid off and now waiting for unemployment benefits to kick in, which could take weeks. She said she is on a payment plan to keep her phone connected and unsure how she’ll pay for groceries — and deeply frustrated at the billions benefiting corporations in the federal bailout.

“These companies are getting government relief, government relief,” Febrero said. “They could afford to pay us more than what we’re getting. They could support us through this time, and they’re not. We’re human. What makes them better than us?”

Now More Than Ever, ‘Prayer is the Highest Form of Existence’

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Rochel Sylvetsky

(The following article has been republished with the permission of the Arutz Sheva editorial staff)

Rabbi Dov Singer is the charismatic dean of Mekor Chaim Yeshiva High School in Gush Etzion and founding head of the Beit Midrash Lehitchadshut (Study Center for Renewal). He is renowned for his innovative and inspiring ability to deepen the connection of students and educators to Torah-true life and for planting the desire to be closer to Hashem through spearheading a revival of Hassidic thought, especially that of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, in Israeli non- hassidic circles.

“Prayer is the highest form of existence,” he asserts and his pocket-book sized handbook of prayer “Tikon Tefillati” – possibly the only book of its kind extant– published in 2017, sold like wildfire in Israel. Its strength lay in an emotive analysis and presentation of the different forms and experiences of prayer, spiritual in nature, while including practical, behavioral suggestions on how each kind of prayer can enter the reader’s heart to become an integral part of his life.  It was recently published in English by Maggid Books and titled “Prepare My Prayer” Recipes to Awaken the Soul,” after being adapted by Reut Brosh and beautifully translated with a readable, flowing text by Leah Hartman..

Each chapter and subheading awakens us to thoughts about prayer which we will be aware of from now on, using a rich medley of sources as set induction. There are excerpts from classic Judaic texts, biblical verses, midrashic insights, Talmudic discourse, the Rambam, the Zohar, Rabbi Nachman’s Likutei Tefillot, Rabbi Kook, as well as modern poetry, always followed by a lyrical, flowing poem-essay by Rabbi Singer that seems to emanate from his very soul. Every topic ends with practical “recipes” and skills, for as the Baal Sefer Chinuch instructs, “our hearts follow the path of our actions.”   These are behaviorist tips that will aid the reader in reaching the goal set by each of the eleven chapters.

The chapters include thoughts like these:

Let me enter Your house: Don’t rush into shul and begin to pray, prepare for speaking to the Creator, just as a musician tunes his instrument before he begins to play.

Soul Movements in Prayer: Traverse the range of prayers from the song of the heart to crying out, a form of communication which precedes language.

The elevator metaphor: As we being morning prayers, we can imagine ourselves in an elevator, ascending from level to level, beginning with prayers dealing with body awakening on the first floor to the wonders of the world in Pesukei dezimra, up to the world of the angels in the paragraphs before Shema and then to the world of closeness and whispered intimacy in the Silent Prayer, the Amida.

The Body’s Gestures: Know that bowing is itself a prayer, one performed by the body, as is standing, lifting up one’s hands to heaven, falling.

The Torah Reading – the entire Torah is names of G-d, and the word for “reading” is also used for “calling out” in Hebrew, so the entire Torah reading calls out G-d’s Name.

The Priestly Blessing is a change in direction because now G-d is the Speaker, while we listen and receive.

Prayer differs from other commandments in that by definition, it needs kavana, intention (although there are those who say that the words themselves have mystic, intrinsic power.)  In fulfilling other mitzvot, intention is important but performance is the only requirement. One cannot say that about prayer, which is all about addressing the Almighty in a meaningful way. The intention requirement is what makes daily prayer a challenging mitzva to fulfill.

The handbook addresses the problem of intention, especially relevant since opposition to praying at set times with set words is a common problem among many of today’s young people, who are so used to individuality and self-expression that they find it hard to be tied to the words written centuries ago. Rabbi Singer gently guides them back:

The written prayer is a fixed prayer, We must make it new, To bring the ancient words inside, To say them again – refreshed, renewed…to reveal the movement from which the words were born before they were expressed, before they were written.

That is the most basic meaning of intention in prayer: To transform mumbling into facing, to turn the word toward their destination, to aim them in the right direction…The Reading of the Shema can be read as a public declaration… and alternatively, it is possible to read it as a quiet statement to myself, to listen to the secret of existence whispering from within reality: G-d is One.

To each verse a different address, a different melody. Don’t make your prayer fixed.

I gave a copy of the Hebrew book to each of my children’s families and therefore can vouch for the fact that the English version, which I read for this review, is true to the original. In English, as well as in Hebrew, the book is a soul-lifting spiritual trek.

But nothing happens by chance in this world. Full disclosure: This article was almost done, timed for posting a few days after Rabbi Singer’s flight to the US for the launching of the English edition. Other responsibilities intruded before it could be finished, and by then Rabbi Singer was back in Israel and in isolation, having contracted coronavirus while out of the country. I  could not bring myself to continue writing the article until yesterday, when, baruch Hashem,  Arutz Sheva ran an interview with the beloved Rabbi as he convalesces in one of the rest homes Israel has set aside for those recovering from the virus.

Perhaps that delay is all for the best, because as the coronavirus pandemic erodes our security in so many ways, it seems fitting to be able to suggest finding sustenance and strength in a book which raises spiritual consciousness as we approach G-d – now, sad to say, most often in supplication.

People for whom prayer is part of everyday life and who, like all of us, sometimes let their minds wander, are now concentrating on their daily prayers as if every day is Yom Kippur- and rightly so. My heart tells me that, like the radically secular MK who revealed years ago that as an IDF soldier he said Shema when he thought it was the end, many people for whom prayer was not part of everyday life have begun feeling that they want to talk to G-d.

In that vein, yesterday morning, the first day of Rosh Chodesh Nisan, the month of renewal*, I joined hundreds in festive, inspiring prayer online by Rabbi Singer’s Beit Midrash Lehitchadshut – with only ten socially distanced people in view and religious singer Yitzchak Meir leading the service. Rabbi Singer spoke from where he is recuperating.

Festive prayers are one of the best known activities of Rabbi Singer’s welcoming Beit Midrash, one of whose stated goals is increasing motivation to pray and elevating feelings during prayer. The services take place, as do lectures and workshops, in a house of prayer in memory of Segen David Golobechich Hy”d in the picturesque Nahlaot neighborhood of Jerusalem – a gathering place for young adults and for famous Israeli musicians and singers who often join the Rosh Chodesh services.

May G-d hear all our prayers and may we see a full recovery for all those who are ill and be worthy for the Redemption in this Month of Redemption.

Notes: The book is also available at Koren Publishers.

*In the Book of Exodus, Nisan is called the Month of Springtime and Rabbi Kook wrote that “The Exodus from Egypt will forever remain the Springtime of the entire world,” alluding to the Bible’s introduction of the concept of liberty.

**A discordant  note: It is unfortunate that the introduction by Elchanan Nir does what Rav Singer would never do – claims the book is important because other existing Torah messages and ideologies are not successful in reaching today’s youngsters (the ideology refers to is clear to Israeli readers, but this is not the place to argue his point). However, any educator knows that no one message reaches everyone, and truth is not measured by the number of adherents to a particular ideology. Rabbi Singer would be the first to say that he wrote his book not instead, but in addition, to the paths to G-d paved by others. (Israel National News)

Rochel Sylvetsky is Senior Consultant and op-ed and Judaism editor of Arutz Sheva’s English site. She is a former Chairperson of Emunah Israel,1991-96, was CEO/Director of Kfar Hanoar Hadati Youth Village, member of the Emek Zevulun Regional Council and the Religious Education Council of Israel’s Education Ministry as well as managing editor of Arutz Sheva (2008-2013). Her degrees are in Mathematics and Jewish Education.