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Will Coronavirus Restrictions on Society Result in Civil Unrest & Violence?

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By Jared Evan

Jacob Wallenberg, a Swedish industrialist told the Financial Times that he is very concerned with nation after nation shutting down economies to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

“I am dead scared of the consequences to society,I want to put the view — what else can we do? Right now, we’re just going on one path . . . We have to weigh the risks of the medicine affecting the patient drastically”

This is a similar view that President Trump takes, when he said the cure can’t be worse than the problem.

He also stated: ” There will be no recovery. There will be social unrest. There will be violence. There will be socio-economic consequences: dramatic unemployment. Citizens will suffer dramatically: some will die, others will feel awful”

Sweden has not taken the drastic steps many nations have taken, by shutting down the economy, and limiting people’e personal lives.

Sweden is the only European country that did not  close schools, and has not banned gatherings of fewer than 500 people—so far seems to be containing the spread better than other countries have, Reason magazine noted.

Reason, a libertarian journal noted: “When the public health agency recommends working from home and avoiding unnecessary gatherings, most Swedes abide by it, even without putting police on the streets and imposing stiff penalties. That leaves necessary room for local knowledge and personal needs. Individuals, organizations, and businesses can go ahead anyway, if their particular situation makes it especially important that they remain open or move around freely”

In other words, can people be mature enough to follow precautions without the government having to shut everything down? Judging by the recent debacle in Florida where thousands  of college students ignored warnings and partied on the beaches as if nothing was happening, America may not be ready for personal responsibility. This is indeed a sad indictment of the American mindset.  Many seem to think, nothing will happen to them, this attitude is arrogance and pure hubris.

Social unrest is an issue Italy seems to be very concerned with as well.

Francesco Rocca, an Italian who heads the world’s largest disaster relief network & President of the Italian Red  Cross  said that as well as social unrest the risk of suicide is increasing among vulnerable isolated people.

Reuters reported his statements to the UN: “We have a lot of people who are living very marginalized, in the so-called black hole of society… In the most difficult neighborhoods of the biggest cities I am afraid that in a few weeks we will have social problems….t his is a social bomb that can explode at any moment, because they don’t have any way to have an income,”  He said the largest Western cities could see these problems emerge “in a few weeks”.

Will social unrest come to America? We have seen unnecessary violence in our nation over controversial court decisions, such as the L.A riots, the Ferguson riots and the 2015 Baltimore riots. This could be right around the corner but let’s hope this does not escalate and those predicting these grim scenarios are wrong.

 

 

Victims of Coronavirus in Jewish Communities Around World Remembered

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KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERA

We  regret to inform you of the Petira of Hagaon HaRav Yisroel Yechezkel Plutchok ZATZAL, the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva Derech Chaim in Boro Park. Rav Plutchok was in critical condition from COVID-19 and was Niftar on Thursday afternoon.

Together with his brother in law, HaRav Mordechai Rennert Zt”l, Rav Yisroel Plutchok founded Yeshivas Derech Chaim in 1974 with eight students. Both of them were Talmidim of Hagaon HaRav Chaim Pinchos Scheinberg ZATZAL. The Yeshiva – located at 16th Avenue and 39th Street – grew into a major Makom Torah and now has thousands of alumni. He leaves behind a large Mishpacha of Talmidei Chachomim and Marbitzei Torah

We regret to inform you of the tragic Petira of Lipa Freidrich Z”L of Monsey. He was 39.

The Niftar was a perfectly healthy young man with no prior medical condition. He tested positive for COVID-19 three days ago and was in isolation at home.

This morning he had severe shortness of breath and Monsey Hatzolah was called. Paramedics intubated him and he was placed on a respirator at Good Samaritan Hospital. Unfortunately, he was Niftar 2 hours later.

The Niftar was part of the Satmar Kehilla in Monsey. He drove a bus for Parnasah. Tragically, he leaves behind a wife and 6 children – the youngest just 5 weeks old.

The first victim of the coronavirus in the Antwerp community was Meir Mishka Elyashkov, 64, of the Georgian kehilla,Michael Freilich, a frum politician from Antwerp told JTA that Jews may suffer a higher infection rate “because Antwerp Jews all know each other, each synagogue is an extended family.”

WN regrets to inform you of the Petira of Hagaon HaRav Avrohom Levi Bresler ZATZAL of Lakewood. He was 55.

The Niftar was an Adam Gadol – literally – someone who has been learning with tremendous Hasmadah, nearly 20 hours a day for decades. The Niftar did this while maintaining his extreme humility, never showing anyone his true Gadlus Batorah. He was a brilliant Talmid Chochom, who was a Baki B’shas and Halacha, and mechaber Seforim.

R’ Bresler had COVID-19 symptoms last week, and was rushed to the hospital on Shabbos afternoon in critical condition. Unfortunately, his condition deteriorated until his Petira on Tuesday afternoon.

The Niftar lived in the Westgate section of Lakewood, and prior to that in Bensonhurst Brooklyn, where he learned in the Kollel at Yeshiva Bais Hatalmud for many years. As a Bochur he learned in Yeshiva Torah Temimah, followed by Bais Hatalmud and by Rav Dovod Soloveitchik in Brisk.

He leaves behind an Almanah, an Isha Chashuva, Mrs. Gittel Bresler (Eckstein) who is the principal at Tehilas Chaya Sara in Lakewood, and his children Miri Gaz (wife of Reb Dovid of Chaim Berlin), Habochur Yehuda Dovid, and daughter Rivka. His siblings Reb Shuey Bresler from Eretz Yisroel, Reb Mordy Bresler from Flatbush, Reb Chanoch Bresler from Detroit and Mrs. Eidi Schwartzman of Lakewood.

His parents were Rav Shlomo Z”L and Mrs Sara A”H Bresler of Boro Park. His wife, Mrs Bresler is a daughter of HaRav Tzvi & Mrs Tzivy Eckstein of the Mirrer Yeshiva in Flatbush. The Levaya will be in Lakewood – details still unknown.

Harav Avraham Yechiel Kraus, z’l, 67, of Montreal, was niftar on Wednesday night from the coronavirus.

Reb Avraham’s death was sudden – he was still at home with his family only three days when he began to feel ill and his condition swiftly deteriorated.

He was brought to the hospital on Wednesday in critical condition, where he was niftar after only a few hours, leaving his family in utter shock. There have been 26 fatalities in Canada from the coronavirus and 2,746 confirmed cases.

The Torah community of Paris was plunged into mourning with the death of Hagaon HaRav Massoud Ben Chamu, 72, the Rav of the Kehillas Mekor Chaim in Paris and the posek of the Chareidi community, from the coronavirus, B’Chadrei Chareidim reported.

After Purim, during which hundreds of congregants flocked to his home for a bracha, Rav Chamu began feeling weak. His condition deteriorated and last week he was brought to the hospital in serious condition. French Jewry gathered to daven for him but the decree was sealed and he was niftar on Wednesday morning.

Just a few weeks ago, Harav Ben Chamu participated in the Yeshivas Mir dinner which was held in France, where he was the speaker of honor. Harav Ben Chamu, beside serving as the Rav of the Mekor Chaim kehilla with hundreds of members, served as the Dayan and Moreh Tzedek of the Beis Din of Hagaon Harav Mordechai Rottenberg in Paris.

The Torah community of Paris was plunged into mourning with the death of Hagaon HaRav Massoud Ben Chamu, 72, the Rav of the Kehillas Mekor Chaim in Paris and the posek of the Chareidi community, from the coronavirus, B’Chadrei Chareidim reported.

After Purim, during which hundreds of congregants flocked to his home for a bracha, Rav Chamu began feeling weak. His condition deteriorated and last week he was brought to the hospital in serious condition. French Jewry gathered to daven for him but the decree was sealed and he was niftar on Wednesday morning.

Just a few weeks ago, Harav Ben Chamu participated in the Yeshivas Mir dinner which was held in France, where he was the speaker of honor.

Harav Ben Chamu, beside serving as the Rav of the Mekor Chaim kehilla with hundreds of members, served as the Dayan and Moreh Tzedek of the Beis Din of Hagaon Harav Mordechai Rottenberg in Paris.

regrets to inform you of the Petira of R’ Yitzchock Zylberminc Z”L, a long-time Hatzolah member (RL-31) in Far Rockaway. He was 56.

The Niftar suffered from multiple health issues, and despite having a prosthetic leg, he remained an active Hatzolah member – responding to emergency calls as recently as three weeks ago.

Unfortunately, he contracted COVID-19, and due to his underlying issues, his condition turned critical until his Petira on Wednesday morning.

R’ Yitzchok left behind a wife, 2 married children and 3 children at home.

Far Rockaway Hatzolah sent out the following message to their members:

It is with tremendous grief, sadness and anguish that we share the news of the Petira of Yitzchok Zylberminc, RL31, Z”L, a member for over 30 years, and a friend to all.

The Levaya will take place today for immediate family only. In spite of the different social media posts, the family is requesting that only immediate family attend. Please respect the family‘s wishes

At a later date, when time and the circumstances allow, rest assured we will have an event to properly pay respects to our friend, colleague and long time member.

May the family be comforted among the mourners of Zion and Yerushalim. May we share Besuros Tovos.

Boruch Dayan HaEmmes…

Giorgio Chaim Sinigaglia, z’l, 54, a well-known member of the Jewish kehilla in Milan, Italy, succumbed to the coronavirus on Monday.

Sinigaglia was well-known for his generosity and volunteer work for Jewish causes in the community, including hachnasas orchim, volunteering with the elderly, visiting the sick, collecting funds for various causes and ensuring the security needs of the Jewish community.

Giorgio Chaim Sinigaglia, z’l, 54, a well-known member of the Jewish kehilla in Milan, Italy, succumbed to the coronavirus on Monday.

Sinigaglia was well-known for his generosity and volunteer work for Jewish causes in the community, including hachnasas orchim, volunteering with the elderly, visiting the sick, collecting funds for various causes and ensuring the security needs of the Jewish community.

Friends and relatives say he was always b’simcha, had a wonderful sense of humor and was a wonderful father to his four children.

There are 69,176 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Italy and 6,820 deaths, double the amount of deaths that China has suffered. The epicenter of the outbreak is in the Lombardy region, where Milan is located.

This article was  complied from The Yeshiva World, visit their site for more information

A new Beat for police across US: Enforcing Social Distance

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TOM HAYS

(AP)In New York City, they’ve started dismantling basketball hoops to prevent people from gathering in parks and playing. In Lakewood, New Jersey, police broke up a wedding being held in violation of a ban on large gatherings. And in Austin, Texas, officers are encouraging people to call a hotline to snitch on violators of the city’s orders for people to stay home.

Police departments are taking a lead role in enforcing social distancing guidelines that health officials say are critical to containing COVID-19. Along with park rangers, fire inspectors and other public servants, officers more accustomed to chasing suspects and solving crimes are spending these troubled days cajoling people to stay at least 6 feet apart.

In New York City, they’ve started dismantling basketball hoops to prevent people from gathering in parks and playing. In Lakewood, New Jersey, police broke up a wedding being held in violation of a ban on large gatherings. And in Austin, Texas, officers are encouraging people to call a hotline to snitch on violators of the city’s orders for people to stay home.

Police departments are taking a lead role in enforcing social distancing guidelines that health officials say are critical to containing COVID-19. Along with park rangers, fire inspectors and other public servants, officers more accustomed to chasing suspects and solving crimes are spending these troubled days cajoling people to stay at least 6 feet apart.

We’re used to crowds, we’re used to lines, we’re used to being close together,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a briefing this week. “No more.”

The no-more mandate has forced the New York Police Department — a squad that normally prides itself on protecting packed crowds like the ones at the Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration — into service dispersing small groups of people on city streets and public spaces.

Instead of the threat of terrorism, they’re trying to stop the spread of a silent killer that as of Thursday had left more than 1,000 people dead in the U.S., at least 280 of them in New York City — all while trying to avoid using a heavy hand.

For starters, the nation’s largest police department made thousands of visits to bars and restaurants to make sure they were observing a shutdown of dine-in services imposed this month, resulting in warnings but only a handful of citations.

Now comes an effort to impose restrictions in parks, playgrounds, housing project courtyards and sidewalks, where some people to congregate out of habit or indifference as temperatures rise. On Wednesday, de Blasio said the city was removing basketball hoops at 80 of its 1,700 public courts — places where he said people were ignoring instructions not to shoot around with anyone outside their household.

Enforcement also will include marked patrol cars driving through Brooklyn’s Prospect Park and other popular outdoor escapes around the city, broadcasting recorded reminders about the importance of social distancing.

NYPD video shot in Manhattan’s Lower East Side and posted on Twitter showed a squad car slowly rolling down a nearly empty street — occupied by just two people running on opposite sides of the street — and playing a message that implores, “Please help us keep you safe.”

In addition, the city is mobilizing departments to form roving enforcement teams for the effort, including members of the fire and parks departments and the mayor’s community affairs unit.

People are not being discouraged from getting out for a breath of fresh air solo, as couples or as families. But other activities like team sports or gatherings like outdoor family barbecues are going to be shut down, de Blasio said.

“If we see people in groups, we’re going to break them up,” he said. “If we see a place that’s too crowded, we are going to get people to disperse.”

De Blasio said he would even consider closing playgrounds as soon as Saturday if families don’t follow new rules to “not overcrowd them” or allowing “kids playing with kids outside their own family.”

In New Jersey, police charged three people in recent days for holding large gatherings in defiance of a state ban. In San Francisco, organizers of a party planned for about 200 people finally canceled Wednesday after the city attorney warned they could face a $1,000 fine and possibly a year in jail for posing a threat to public health during the coronavirus pandemic.

In New York City, officers patrolling recreation areas and enforcing social distancing this week were seeing “a lot of empty soccer fields and a lot of empty basketball courts, which is good,” NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan said.

For now, the department is trying to avoid a more lax approach used in Italy that is believed to have only fueled infection rates, while avoiding any semblance of the Big Brother-type crackdown in China.

As the crisis worsened, Italy ordered police to patrol cafes to make sure that people kept their distance and that shops shut at 6 p.m. each day, only to see the death count continue to rise. It has since shut down bars and cafes altogether.

In China, officials took more extreme measures, including locking people inside their apartment complexes. A state-run news agency even released what it claimed was video from a drone sent out to chase down and shame people not wearing masks.

Social media photos and videos from India showed police officers in surgical masks using batons to keep violators in line.

There also were reports that Singaporean authorities criminally charged a couple who lied about their travel history and revoked the residency of a man who broke his medical quarantine.

At this point, New York police say, the effort is “more about education and getting compliance,” Monahan said. “It’s about explaining to people the dangers involved and that this is a different world.”

U.S Leads World With COVID-19 Cases; However Leading Epidemiologist Downgrades Often Quoted Dire Predictions

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image of the Corona Virus (Getty Images)

Jared Evan

The United States has become the nation with the most coronavirus cases in the world.

In the United States, at least 81,321 people are known to have been infected with the coronavirus, including more than 1,000 deaths — more cases than China, Italy or any other country has seen, according to data gathered by The New York Times.

America has the 3rd  highest population in the world, so many more cases are to be expected. This indeed sounds intimidating, however there is some good news.

Epidemiologist Neil Ferguson, who created the highly-cited Imperial College London coronavirus model, which has been cited by organizations like The New York Times and has been instrumental in governmental policy decision-making, offered a massively downgraded projection of the potential deathtoll on Wednesday, Daily Wire reported.

Initially Ferguson predicted Ferguson’s model projected 2.2 million dead people in the United States and 500,000 in the U.K. from COVID-19  if social distancing and other measures were not taken.

Ferguson is presenting drastically downgraded estimates, crediting lockdown measures, but also revealing that far more people likely have the virus than his team figured.

Ferguson explained on Parliament  live TV( you can click on this link to see  the interview)  “should admit, we’ve always been sensitive in the analysis in the modeling to a variety of levels or values to those quantities. What we’ve been seeing, though, in Europe in the last week or two is a rate of growth of the epidemic which was faster than we expected from early data in China. And so we are revising our quotes, our central best estimate of the reproduction… something more, a little bit above of the order of three or a little bit above rather than about 2.5”

Essentially because the number of infections is bigger, the number of death predicted drastically goes down .

When the number of those with coronavirus is divided by the number of deaths, therefore, the mortality rate for the disease drops, Daily Wire reported.

He said that expected increases in National Health Service capacity and ongoing restrictions to people’s movements make him “reasonably confident” the health service can cope when the predicted peak of the epidemic arrives in two or three weeks. UK deaths from the disease are now unlikely to exceed 20,000, he said, and could be much lower, reported in detail at The New Scientist 

His dire prediction in the UK went from 500,000 deaths to 20,000. He did not breakdown the numbers for the US,   however its easy to see that the terrifying prediction of 2.2 deaths will be much lower as well.

The good news is the sacrifices we are making with our lifestyles & the economy could very well turn out to be beneficial for humanity in the long run.

Only time will tell, however this is very interesting and it’s  worth checking out the links provided

 

Political shocker: Blue and White breaks apart as Gantz joins Netanyahu

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In an event that few would have foreseen, Blue and White appears to have disintegrated as its leader Benny Gantz led his faction into a unity government with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday.

Details are still emerging but reports say that Gantz will lead the 15 members of his Israel Resilience party into the government. Israel Resilience is one of the parties that makes up Blue and White, a coalition of parties brought together to better compete against Netanyahu’s Likud.

It’s not yet known what position Gantz will fill in the year-and-a-half before he is expected to take on the prime minister’s role. The positions of speaker of the Knesset and foreign minister have been broached.

Gabi Ashkanazi, who like Gantz is a former IDF chief of staff, will take the position of defense minister, replacing Naftali Bennett of the Yemina party.

Both Chili Tropper and Avi Nissenkorn have been named as the future justice minister, with most reports saying the former.

According to Haaretz, Gantz’s party will receive the same number of ministerial posts as Likud and its partners. That means almost everyone in Gantz’s party will be a minister.

The two other parties that make up Blue and White – Yesh Atid, led by Yair Lapid, and Telem, headed by Moshe Ya’alon – will remain outside the government.

Jerusalem Post reported Yair Lapid’ reaction to this new unity: “What’s being formed today isn’t a unity government. It’s another Netanyahu government.”  Lapid also called Gantz’s move to “crawl into Netanyahu’s government,” a  “disappointing decision.”

Lapid also stated that despite the cornavirus being one of the most serious issues in the history of Israel,  he said that the crisis is not a reason “to abandon our values. We promised not to sit under a Prime Minister with three criminal indictments. We promised not to sit in a coalition of extremists and extortionists. We said we wouldn’t allow anyone to undermine Israel’s democracy.”

The Guardian noted: Tamar Zandberg, a member of the leftwing Meretz party allied with Blue and White, accused Gantz of abandoning millions of voters who sought an alternative to Netanyahu.

“You’ll end up a rug under the feet of an alleged crook, an inciter and racist,” she said in a speech to the session. “We are overwhelmed by the depth of the deceit and disgrace that has plagued today.”

In a signal indicative of the digital age, Lapid and his members quit Blue and White’s Whatsapp messenger group one-by-one .

Labor party MK Merav Michaeli sharply attacked Gantz for joining with Netanyahu, who faces indictment in three corruption cases. However, it’s not clear if Labor leader Amir Peretz and the other Labor MK, Itzik Shmuli ,will join the government or the opposition.

Gantz promised repeatedly during the campaign that he would never join in a government led by Netanyahu because of the indictments the latter faces.

Gantz had also promised never to join with the Arab Joint List, breaking that promise immediately after the elections to accept them into a potential government.

Although it’s a technicality, Gantz will now need to return the mandate he was given to try and form a government to President Reuven Rivlin, who will then hand it to Netanyahu.

Blue and White was founded Feb. 21, 2019 and lasted for three election cycles. It was an alliance of Gantz’s new Israel Resilience Party, the centrist Yesh Atid Party headed by Yair Lapid, and the center-right Telem Party led by former Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon.

The merger came ahead of the April 2019 national elections with the hope of defeating Netanyahu. Netanyahu’s Likud and Gantz’s Blue and White both won 35 seats, but neither could find enough coalition partners for a 61-seat majority in the 120-seat Knesset.

This story except where indicated was provided by World Israel News. Visit their site for up too date news from Israel at  www.worldisraelnews.com

Netanyahu: ‘No avoiding’ complete lockdown if outbreak keeps spreading

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Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference about the coronavirus COVID-19, at the Prime Ministers office in Jerusalem on March 25, 2020. Photo by Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday there would be “no avoiding” a complete lockdown if the rate of coronavirus infections did not decrease.

“If we do not see an immediate improvement in the trendline there will be no avoiding a full closure,” Netanyahu said in televised remarks reported by Reuters.  “[The decision] is a matter of a few days [away]. And we are making all of the preparations for it.”

On Wednesday morning, the Israeli government approved via a telephone vote new, more severe restrictions on the public as part of the country’s effort to curb the outbreak.

Under the new directives, which went into effect on Wednesday night, Israelis are required to stay within 100 meters (110 yards) of their homes on penalty of heavy fines and even imprisonment. Essential services including supermarkets, pharmacies, gas stations and banks will operate as normal, though they will have to take measures to ensure that social-distancing instructions are followed.

Cuomo Updates New York on Coronavirus; Expresses Dismay Towards Congress

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Here is a rundown of the daily updates from Governor Cuomo on the coronavirus situation in New York, and the press conference can be viewed at the bottom of this page.

Vital Numbers NY state released today

  • 37,258 people have tested positive for Covid-19
  • 5,327 people are currently hospitalized
  • 1,290 patients are in intensive care
  • 1,517 patients have been discharged after being hospitalized
  • 385 patients have died from Covid-19

Highlights From Conference

  • “In a situation like this not knowing the facts is worse, that’s when you feel out of control”
  • We have to deal with 2 fronts, the public health and the economic situation
  • He explained they are looking for not a reduction of cases, but a reduction in the rate of increase
  • Almost any realistic scenario will still overwhelm the hospital system, increasing the hospital capacity is a top priority
  • The goal a 1000+ overflow facility in all boroughs, Nassau, Suffolk and Rockland and Westchester county
  • Currently there is  enough protective personal equipment in stock  for health care workers
  • He said the state has also approved hospitals to split a ventilator and allow it to be used on two patients, and they are shopping for more ventilators
  • Covid-19 patients are on ventilators between 11-21 days, others only for 3-4 days
  • He discussed the loss of revenue due to business being closed and the relief bill only helping the state cover the pandemic not the states budget
  • He addressed the economic stimulus package, assailing Congressional leaders for falling short of assisting the states.“What they did failed to meet the governmental need,” he said of the bill. He called it “irresponsible” and “reckless.”
  • “When this is over I promise you I’m going to give them a piece of my mind,” he said, adding that now is not a time for politics.
  •  Deaths have increased- patients on ventilators up to 20-30 days
  •  New York is by far the most impacted state as per John Hopkins statistics
  • “When I get tired I think of the first responders  out there.” Gov Cuomo
  • ” Tens of thousands of doctors and nurses are coming out of retirement to assist in hospitals while nearly 9,000 mental health professionals are volunteering their time to provide free services to New Yorkers, he said.
  • When the pressure is on, you get to see what

    people are made of”

QUOTE: “You get to see the best and you get to the see the worst,” he said. “You get to see the beauty and you get to see the opposite. … Easy times don’t forge character.”

 

 

 

 

Elmhurst Hospital Sees 13 Deaths in 24 Hours, Deaths Rise 110% in NYC; “It’s apocalyptic”

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Patients wear personal protective equipment while maintaining social distancing as they wait in line for a COVID-19 test at Elmhurst Hospital Center, Wednesday, March 25, 2020, in New York. Gov. Andrew Cuomo sounded his most dire warning yet about the coronavirus pandemic Tuesday, saying the infection rate in New York is accelerating and the state could be as close as two weeks away from a crisis that sees 40,000 people in intensive care. Such a surge would overwhelm hospitals, which now have just 3,000 intensive care unit beds statewide. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

By Jared Evan

Elmhurst Hospital, part of the city’s public hospital system, said in a statement that the 13 deaths were consistent with the number of intensive care unit patients the hospital was treating at the time, USA today reported.

The death toll in NY has exploded since Wednesday, the Big Apple is being decimated by this horrific pandemic.

New York City’s death toll rose 110% from Tuesday morning to Wednesday night. The city is now responsible for roughly 30% of all U.S. cases of the disease and about 25% of all U.S. deaths, as per USA Today

“Elmhurst is at the center of this crisis,” the hospital statement said. “It’s the number one priority of our public hospital system right now.”

Elmhurst is a Chinese enclave  the second largest in Queens, the other Chinatown being located in Flushing.  Elmhurt’s population is almost half Chinese.

The hospital’s spokesperson says the number of deaths over just 24 hours is “consistent with the number of ICU patients being treated there”, NBC reported

The New York Times reported that some patients waiting for a bed at the 545-bed facility died in the emergency room, and a refrigerated truck sits outside to hold bodies.

“It’s apocalyptic,” Dr. Ashley Bray, 27, a general medicine resident told the Times.

Buzzfeed described this horrific scene in a shocking article: “Elmhurst is just getting destroyed. It’s very, very gruesome. The hospital has a 15-bed intensive care unit that would normally cover respiratory patients or patients with any significant illness requiring intubation, like pneumonia, liver injury, encephalopathy, or kidney problems,  What’s remarkable is that now, every patient is a COVID patient. And they’re all ARDS [acute respiratory distress syndrome, a life-threatening fluid buildup in the lungs] ”

Meanwhile ABC reported: ” One nurse who has worked at Elmhurst for over a decade, who previously dealt with multiple disease outbreaks and a hurricane, told ABC News, “I’ve never seen anything like this.” She described the emergency room as “absolute chaos. The facility is overwhelmed.” Another doctor said, “We’re running out of stretchers. We need chairs.”

A local NBC correspondent reported the testing lines at Elmhurst hospital stretching around the block.

Trump Approves NJ Disaster Deceleration as Coronavirus Cases Mount

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TJV  Web Editor

NJ now has 4,400 COVID-19 cases and thus far 62 deaths as the pandemic spreads across America.

President Donald Trump has approved a disaster declaration for New Jersey, making way for federal funding and assistance for all areas impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

These numbers are sobering, but not surprising to us,” Gov. Phil Murphy said during a briefing Wednesday, reported by CBS

We are in this fight to save lives,” Murphy said.

The governor signed an executive order requiring child care centers to close by April 1 unless they are solely serving children of essential workers.

Murphy also expanded the kinds of businesses that are permitted to operate while the state’s COVID-19 emergency orders are in place. The list of businesses considered essential now includes:Mobile phone retail and repair shop, Bicycle shops, but only to provide service and repair, Livestock feed stores Nurseries and garden centers, Farming equipment stores

NJ has expanded it’s drive thru testing services.

Essex County officials said Wednesday that a drive-thru testing center would be opening Thursday in Newark’s Weequahic Park. A drive-through facility for Passaic County residents opened Wednesday at William Paterson University, ABC6 Philadelphia reported.

In Essex, appointments are mandatory, according to a statement from Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo. Residents should go to the county’s website to complete a screening form and make an appointment.

In Passaic, county residents must have a referral from a doctor, Gov. Phil Murphy said earlier this week.

 

Senate Passes Coronavirus Rescue Package on Unanimous Vote

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The Senate late Wednesday passed an unparalleled $2.2 trillion economic rescue package steering aid to businesses, workers and health care systems engulfed by the coronavirus pandemic. (Senate Television via AP)

By: Andrew Taylor & Lisa Mascaro

The Senate late Wednesday passed an unparalleled $2.2 trillion economic rescue package steering aid to businesses, workers and health care systems engulfed by the coronavirus pandemic.

The unanimous vote came despite misgivings on both sides about whether it goes too far or not far enough and capped days of difficult negotiations as Washington confronted a national challenge unlike it has ever faced.

The 880-page measure is the largest economic relief bill in U.S. history. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., appeared somber and exhausted as he announced the vote — and he released senators from Washington until April 20, though he promised to recall them if needed.

“The legislation now before us now is historic because it is meant to match a historic crisis,“said Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. “Our health care system is not prepared to care for the sick. Our workers are without work. Our businesses cannot do business. Our factories lie idle. The gears of the American economy have ground to a halt.”

The package is intended as relief for an economy spiraling into recession or worse and a nation facing a grim toll from an infection that’s killed nearly 20,000 people worldwide. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, asked how long the aid would keep the economy afloat, said: “We’ve anticipated three months. Hopefully, we won’t need this for three months.”

Underscoring the effort’s sheer magnitude, the bill finances a response with a price tag that equals half the size of the entire $4 trillion annual federal budget.

Insistently optimistic, President Donald Trump said of the greatest public-health emergency in anyone’s lifetime, “I don’t think its going to end up being such a rough patch” and anticipated the economy soaring “like a rocket ship” when it’s over.

The drive by leaders to speed the bill through the Senate was slowed as four conservative Republican senators from states who economies are dominated by low-wage jobs demanded changes, saying the legislation as written might give workers like store clerks incentives to stay on unemployment instead of returning return to their jobs since they may earn more money if they’re laid off than if they’re working. They settled for a failed vote to modify the provision.

Other objections floated in from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has become a prominent Democrat on the national scene as the country battles the pandemic. Cuomo, whose state has seen more deaths from the pandemic than any other, said, “I’m telling you, these numbers don’t work.”

Ardent liberals like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez were restless as well, but top Washington Democrats assured them that a additional coronavirus legislation will follow this spring and signaled that delaying the pending measure would be foolish.

The sprawling measure is the third coronavirus response bill produced by Congress and by far the largest. It builds on efforts focused on vaccines and emergency response, sick and family medical leave for workers, and food aid.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., swung behind the bipartisan agreement, saying it “takes us a long way down the road in meeting the needs of the American people.”

Senate passage delivered the legislation to the Democratic-controlled House, which will most likely pass it Friday. House members are scattered around the country and the timetable for votes in that chamber was unclear.

House Democratic and Republican leaders have hoped to clear the measure for Trump’s signature by a voice vote without having to call lawmakers back to Washington.

The package would give direct payments to most Americans, expand unemployment benefits and provide a $367 billion program for small businesses to keep making payroll while workers are forced to stay home. (AP)

Ex-Campaign Staffer Sues Bloomberg Over Layoffs, Cites Fraud

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A former staffer for Mike Bloomberg’s presidential campaign filed a class-action lawsuit Monday alleging the billionaire broke a promise to pay his thousands of campaign workers through November, regardless of whether his 2020 bid was successful. Photo Credit: AP - Eduard Munoz Alvarez

By: Alexandra Jaffe

A former staffer for Mike Bloomberg’s presidential campaign filed a class-action lawsuit Monday alleging the billionaire broke a promise to pay his thousands of campaign workers through November, regardless of whether his 2020 bid was successful.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in New York City, accuses Bloomberg of “fraudulently” enticing people to join his campaign with promises he did not fulfill and breaching his contract with those employees by laying them off shortly after he ended his campaign on March 4.

The named plaintiff in the lawsuit, Donna Wood, worked as a field organizer for the Bloomberg campaign. The complaint notes that many of the staffers resigned or took leaves of absences from their current jobs or moved to take a position on Bloomberg’s campaign and are now left hunting for jobs — and without health care — during the coronavirus pandemic and as the economy experiences a significant contraction.

“Defendant’s termination of (field organizers) and other campaign employees deprived them of promised income and health care benefits, leaving them and their families potentially uninsured in the face of a global pandemic,” the lawsuit reads.

The lawsuit seeks damages for “fraudulent inducement and breach of contract,” as well as unpaid overtime pay.

A campaign spokesperson said the campaign paid its staff wages and benefits “that were much more generous than any other campaign this year” and that staff were given several weeks of severance and health care through March. The spokesperson also said that given the coronavirus crisis, “a fund is being created to ensure that all staff receive healthcare through April, which no other campaign has done.”

Bloomberg offered campaign workers unusually generous pay and benefits and promises of work through November to join his team, an atypical assurance from a campaign. Those commitments helped the candidate build out a staff of thousands across 43 states within months of his late entry into the race.

Bloomberg initially indicated that, even if he didn’t win the nomination, he would transition his campaign apparatus into an independent entity working to help the Democratic Party defeat Trump.

But after winning just one U.S. territory during the March 3 Super Tuesday primary contests, Bloomberg bowed out of the race the next day and laid off most of his staff soon afterward.

He told them they were welcome to reapply to work with the Democratic National Committee in many states. Former Bloomberg campaign staffers in field offices in six key battleground states were kept on and will continue to be paid by his campaign through the first week in April and have full benefits through the end of April. After that, they’ll have to reapply to work with the DNC.

The businessman, a former New York City mayor who is one of the world’s wealthiest people with a net worth estimated to exceed $60 billion, has continued his involvement in Democratic politics since dropping out of the race through multimillion-dollar investments in various Democratic turnout and advocacy groups. Last week, his campaign announced it would transfer $18 million to the DNC to help the party build out its operation in key states. (AP)

Coronavirus in NYC: Violent Crime Rate Drops – Auto Theft Increases

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As the Coronavirus pandemic keeps New Yorkers hunkered down in their homes, it appears that being on the streets of America's large city aren't as dangerous as they used to be. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Edited by: TJVNews.com

As the Coronavirus pandemic keeps New Yorkers hunkered down in their homes, it appears that being on the streets of America’s large city aren’t as dangerous as they used to be. If anything at all positive has emanated from this dreaded virus that claims lives every day, it is the fact that the crime rate has taken a significant plunge in Gotham.

Last week for example, the NY Daily News has reported that crime in the five boroughs dropped 25%. One person was murdered compared to eight people the week before, authorities said on Monday.

According to NYPD statistics, compared to the week before last there was an overall decrease in the crime rate and that includes murder, rape, robbery, felony assault, burglary and grand larceny.

In the case of stolen vehicles, the NY Post reported that thirty-five more vehicles were reported stolen this year, marking a 52% increase from the same week last year.

The Daily News reported that rapes were more than cut in half, from 33 the week before last to 15 last week and the number of robberies were down 8%, to 210 from 229.

There were just 16 people shot last week, compared to 20 the week before. And with more people home, burglaries dropped 19%, to 173 from 213, according to the NY Daily News report.

The NY Post reported that grand larceny was down 31% with 517 reported so far this year, compared to 753 last year. Rape and other sex crimes were both down, 69% and 43%, respectively. Felony assault was down nearly 9% and misdemeanor assault down was 21%.

“It is a combination of individuals heeding the advice to stay home and [distancing] themselves from other people,” said NYPD Sgt. Joseph Imperatrice, founder of Blue Lives MattersNYC.

The Daily News reported that for the year, however, crime remains up substantially, with law enforcement officials blaming criminal justice and bail reform measures they see as poorly conceived.

Police sources say that this kind of reduction in crime was to be expected as New York City has come to a grinding halt with the streets being nearly empty due to the new rules about social distancing that the Coronavirus pandemic has caused. 

According to the NY Post report, because a number of NYPD officers have tested positive for the Coronavirus, cops in the Big Apple are taking the practice of social distancing quite seriously.  The Post reported that officers made 1,800 fewer arrests over the last seven days and wrote nearly 10,000 fewer tickets compared to the same period last year, according to department statistics.

Speaking to the NY Post, Ed Mullins, president of the NYPD Sergeants Benevolent Association, said the numbers show how police “priorities are different right now.”

“Nobody is paying attention to the little stuff. Focus on the big stuff. Not really focused on doing car stops,” he told the Post..

Last week, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea pledged cops had “no intention of strategically cutting enforcement during this coronavirus outbreak.”

Michael Cohen Loses effort for early prison release

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A former personal lawyer for President Donald Trump was denied early release from a three-year prison sentence Tuesday after he pleaded guilty to numerous charges, including campaign finance fraud and lying to Congress.

U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley III said it seemed Michael Cohen’s request for release to home confinement after serving 10 months in prison “appears to be just another effort to inject himself into the news cycle.”

The judge noted that Cohen raised the danger of getting the coronavirus in prison as the latest reason why he believed he was entitled to a reduced sentence.

He also rejected the request on other grounds, including that the defense lawyers were making a request that only prosecutors were entitled to make.

But he said prosecutors believe he made false statements about facts in his sessions with prosecutors.

he judge said it was not for him to second-guess the prosecutors’ decision that Cohen’s false statements and efforts to minimize his crimes justified a decision not to recommend a reduced sentence for Cohen.

In asking for early release, Cohen’s lawyers said their client was the victim of a continuing campaign of “character assassination” by prosecutors.

They claimed the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan “stubbornly refuses” to acknowledge the breadth, scope and relevance of over 170 hours of testimony he gave to nine government agencies.

Cohen, 53, is housed at a federal prison in Otisville, New York, after pleading guilty in 2018 to campaign finance violations and lying to Congress, among other charges. He began serving his sentence last May.

Cohen maintains he deserves early release for telling investigators about the president’s misdeeds.

In court papers, prosecutors say Cohen has offered no evidence that he provided them with substantial assistance of the kind that warrants a significant reduction in sentence. And they say Congressional testimony does not earn a reduction either.

Cohen pleaded guilty in 2018, abandoning his longtime position of loyalty to Trump. He later met with federal and state prosecutors in New York and with the office of special counsel Robert Mueller, telling them he had lied to Congress to protect Trump.

Prior to Cohen’s sentence, Mueller’s team of investigators described his help to their probe, but prosecutors in Manhattan made it clear that Cohen wanted to help them only on his terms, unwilling to submit to the demands that he reveal all of his crimes and cooperate fully and honestly.

(A.P)

Is the 2nd Amendment being Suspended Because of Coronavirus?

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The Department of Homeland Security left out the Second Amendment rights of Americans in a memorandum listing “essential” businesses allowed to stay open during an emergency such as the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Newswars.

As a result of this list which leaves out Gun shops from the “essential business list” several cities are banning the sale of fire arms and ammo because of coronavirus.

The City of Fresno has now declared a “state of emergency”, and doing so grants the city wide-ranging powers under its “Emergency Services Ordinance”, Fox26 reported.

The Fresno ordinance suspended  sale of firearms and ammo, suspended the sale of alcohol, a halt to gasoline sales, except as fuel pumped into vehicles’ gasoline tanks, and a general curfew.

Even more shocking the state of New Jersey ended all gun and ammo sales because of coronavirus . Governor Phil Murphy issued Executive Order 107 which shuttered all business except those specifically listed.

Ammoland.com a gun rights blog obtained specific rules from the Governor’s office that stated:

  • Gun stores are not deemed “essential” and are therefore ordered closed (shutting off the flow of firearms and ammunition to honest citizens, who may need them in times of emergency);
  • The National Instant Check System in NJ (NICS) for processing all firearms and ammunition transactions has been shut down completely; and
  • All ranges (indoor and outdoor, public and private) are ordered closed under a restriction on “recreational activities”).

Gun rights advocates consider these unprecedented steps. The second amendment for an entire state has been suspended over a health issue, the coronavirus.

These are just 2 examples, there are several more.

FOX 11 Los Angeles reporter Bill Melugin said the sheriff “is beginning to close county gun stores immediately. Deputies are currently going to the stores one by one to order them shut down. Sheriff to utilize scofflaw violations for any gun store still open after he deemed them nonessential.”

“We will be closing them, they are not an essential function,”  Sheriff  Villanueva told Fox 11. “I’m a supporter of the 2nd amendment, I’m a gun owner myself, but now you have the mixture of people that are not formerly gun owners and you have a lot more people at home and anytime you introduce a firearm in a home, from what I understand from CDC studies, it increases fourfold the chance that someone is gonna get shot.”

Sheriff Villanueva also told Melugin he’s concerned about “first time buyers are panicking and bringing guns into homes where people are locked down, which he believes is recipe for disaster with potential accidental shootings.”In

In a barely covered action,  the supreme court of Pennsylvania, has allowed the closure of gun shops in the state,  according to Breitbart, however the governor reversed this decision and declared the gun shops “life sustaining” according to RT news.

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell signed a coronavirus emergency order last week allowing her to ban the sale and transportation of firearms.

These bans and ordinances are rapidly developing. One must ask themselves if other rights such as the 1st amendment will be suspend because of the pandemic and are you willing to give up our rights to fight a virus?

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Brooklyn Resident’s Controversial Message to Hasidim Breaking Coronvirus Guidelines

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This video has blown up on Instagram. This young lady witnessed non essential business open in Williamsberg  Brooklyn and religious Jewish people ignoring the social distancing rules.

Is she being intolerant and wrong? Does she have a point? Watch and draw your own conclusions

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Brooklyn #newyork #coronavirüsü #brooklyn #CrownHeights #Williamsburg ( Chana Horowitz) ex hasid .

A post shared by The Jewish Voice (@jewishvoice) on

Spreading Coronavirus on Purpose is Terrorism, Justice Department Memo Declares

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A vaccine for the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) could be at least one and a half years away, a public health expert from the University of Haifa warned on Sunday. Photo by Kobi Richter/TPS on 27 February, 2020

People who intentionally spread the coronavirus could face criminal charges under federal terrorism laws, the Justice Department’s No. 2 official said Tuesday, Politico reported.

In a memo to top Justice Department leaders, law enforcement agency chiefs and U.S. Attorneys across the country, Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said prosecutors and investigators could come across cases of “purposeful exposure and infection of others with COVID-19.”

“Because Coronavirus appears to meet the statutory definition of a ‘biological agent’… such acts potentially could implicate the Nation’s terrorism-related statutes,” Rosen wrote. “Threats or attempts to use COVID-19 as a weapon against Americans will not be tolerated”, Politico stated

Meanwhile people are being charged with terrorism for attempting to spread coronavirus to innocent people purposely.

A Missouri man who filmed himself licking products at a retail store was reportedly charged with making terrorist threats, Infowars reported. In the video which went viral on social media, Cody Pfister, 26, asks, “Who’s afraid of the coronavirus?” before proceeding to lick several items at a Walmart in Warrenton.

According to police, Pfister’s antics prompted anger across the globe, with people from several countries in Europe calling into the Warrenton Police Department to report the heinous act.

A local resident who took a video of themselves licking the merchandise after making a ‘Corona Virus’ statement at Walmart and posting it to social media has been taken into custody,” Warrenton police wrote in a Facebook post.

Here is the twitter post which got this mentally deranged individual arrested

In another case reported by Fox 5  a New Jersey man the governor described as a “knucklehead” faces multiple charges after he allegedly coughed on a grocery store worker and then claimed to have coronavirus.

Governor Phil Murphy said at a Tuesday afternoon news conference that the man got into a dispute with an employee of a Wegmans store sometime on Sunday.

The man, identified as George Falcone of Freehold, then allegedly refused to give police his name or driver’s license for more than 40 minutes.  It happened at  Wegmans in Manalapan. Falcone, now faces charges of making a terroristic threat, harassment, and obstruction of justice, according to the governor.