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Wednesday, September 23, 2020

Useless Idiots! Dr. Stuart Ditchek, a pediatrician in Midwood, said he had nine patients test positive yesterday out of a total of 31 tests, for a positivity rate of nearly 30%, compared to the citywide average of 1.2%.

NYC health department sees ‘significant’ Covid-19 rise in largely Orthodox neighborhoods

 

The number of cases is rising sharply in areas that were hit hard in March and April.


Williamsburg residents look on as protesters pass through the Brooklyn neighborhood June 12, 2020. (Avi Kaye)

(JTA) — Six heavily Orthodox neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens are currently contributing 20% of all new Covid-19 cases in New York City, and rising cases there are cause for “significant concern,” city health officials announced Tuesday.

The new data comes amid signs of growing alarm in New York City’s Orthodox communities about the possible beginning of a second wave of cases, after a brutal spring and relatively quiet summer.

The data corresponds to what doctors on the ground in the neighborhoods are reporting — that the number of cases is rising sharply in areas that were hit hard in March and April.

Dr. Stuart Ditchek, a pediatrician in Midwood, said he had nine patients test positive yesterday out of a total of 31 tests, for a positivity rate of nearly 30%, compared to the citywide average of 1.2%.

Ditchek said he’s seeing an “exponential rise” in daily cases — and growing increasingly concerned that his community may face a second wave of disease like the one that was propelled by communal gatherings for the holiday of Purim in mid-March.

“It feels like Purim to me but worse because by Purim we couldn’t test, so we really didn’t know what we were up against,” he said. “I felt it was coming but now what we’re seeing is sort of a snowball effect every day.”

The city’s health department had been watching the neighborhoods, all home to large Orthodox communities, for weeks after cases started rising in August with most attributed to the large weddings held in many Orthodox communities, particularly Borough Park and Williamsburg.

But the case numbers have continued to rise over the past several weeks, despite robocalls from health department officials targeting Orthodox neighborhoods and pleas for testing and mask wearing from the mayor himself.

In several neighborhoods in south Brooklyn, including Midwood, Borough Park and Bensonhurst — which the health department is now labeling the “Ocean Parkway Cluster” after the avenue that connects them — as well as in Williamsburg and Far Rockaway, cases tripled from Aug. 1 to Sept. 19. In Kew Gardens, a neighborhood in Queens, cases doubled in the same period.

While many of the cases over the last six weeks have been linked to the large weddings typical of Orthodox communities, which were resumed in many communities without masks or social distancing by the middle of the summer, the spread of the coronavirus in the communities has likely been exacerbated by a number of factors.

As weddings resumed in August, kids started returning from summer camps and families moved back to Brooklyn after spending the summer months in bungalow colonies in upstate New York. Schools recently resumed in-person classes in many Orthodox neighborhoods, with some flouting social distancing or mask wearing.

Many synagogues have returned to their pre-pandemic capacities despite the continued threat of the pandemic.

And many synagogues have returned to their pre-pandemic capacities despite the continued threat of the pandemic, a sign both of the fervor with which the period of repentance leading up to the High Holidays are regarded in Orthodox communities and the widespread sense that the coronavirus pandemic had ended in the communities long ago.

Orthodox communities in Borough Park, Crown Heights and Williamsburg, three neighborhoods home to large Hasidic populations, were hit particularly hard as the pandemic first hit the United States in March after celebrations of Purim, a Jewish holiday often marked by parties and heavy drinking, came as the virus spread in the city but before restrictions were put in place.

By late spring, many in these communities had returned to normal life, resuming in-person studies in yeshivas and prayers at synagogues and largely forgoing the masks that were then becoming a common sight in the city.

To many, the extent to which the communities were battered by the virus in March gave them a pass to resume normal life as many assumed that the communities had achieved herd immunity. Indeed, through much of the summer, local health clinics reported few new cases of Covid-19 despite the resumption of normal activities.

But in August, the signs of a second wave began appearing in several communities, with weddings eyed as the culprit.

An administrator at a network of health clinics in Williamsburg saw the number of cases increase dramatically over the past week.

Where there had been one or two cases per week over the summer, those numbers increased to ten cases per week in early September and more than 50 cases just last week. The clinic is now preparing for a second wave with the same measures it took before the first wave, making sure the clinic has enough personal protective equipment and reviewing protocol for testing and isolating suspected Covid cases.

“We were like, oh, that’s kind of what happened with our cases in early March,” she said of the dramatically increasing cases.

With synagogues packed over Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur and Sukkot approaching, she expects the numbers to continue to rise over the next several weeks.

Just yesterday, she said, the clinics had 10 positive tests, 33 negatives and more than 20 pending results. Even if all of the pending tests are negative, the positivity rate at the clinic would be over 15% — more than five times what New York’s governor has determined is the threshold to safely operate schools.

 
 
Rabbi Moshe Tuvia Lieff of Agudath Israel Bais Binyomin (Ave L) in Brooklyn, formerly a rabbi in Minneapolis, has Covid and exposed numerous people when he spoke in his synagogue on Rosh Hashana.
 
 

 

5 comments:

Ferd said...

What a bizayon. Even Open Ortho Pox get what the Agudah Fressers don't.

26 "yeshiva" high school principals released the following guidelines regarding the upcoming chagim & their expectations of their talmidim & talmidot.

As schools reopened, we have all been invigorated by the sense of community & meaning they provide. While many schools pivot to remote learning, we know that in-person education provides so much more than we can deliver through Zoom. The casual conversations in a hallway with a teacher or a classmate, ideas discussed over lunch, laughs shared together & the vibrancy of Torah as we sit in beit midrash are sacred & valuable. By maintaining care for our health & safety, we aim to keep our schools open. It's therefore critical we don't become complacent & let our guard down as the yamim tovim approach. There are aspects of the pandemic that aren't in our control but there's much that is in our control. Together, our schools, students & families can mitigate the spread of the virus & help promote our good health.

Yeshiva high schools across North America will be sharing the information below with their communities over the coming days. Together we urge all community members to adhere to the following directives:

• Students may not host friends for sleepovers.

• When students gather together they must always be socially distanced, masked and outdoors & never in large groups. Parents must provide constant supervision. We've seen that although it's not natural to socially distance, when reminded to do so, they comply.

• Students must remain in their home communities throughout the yamim tovim, including Simchat Torah. There will be no communal gatherings for students on Simchat Torah.

• Anyone under quarantine, even precautionary, may not leave the home, may not get together with friends, and the family may not host social gatherings, even outdoors. Meals that include guests from other families must only be held outdoors & socially distanced.

• These guidelines apply for all community members, even those who've developed antibodies.

We're grateful for your partnership as we work to ensure a safe environment for our children. With wishes for a טובה וחתימה כתיבה, a year of good health & blessing for all.

Sincerely,

Maury Grebenau, Principal, Akiba-Yavneh Academy, Dallas

Shlomo Stochel, Head of Ramaz Upper School, NYC

Shimmy Trencher, Principal Upper School, Bi-Cultural Hebrew Academy, Stamford

Tully Harczstark & Jonathan Kroll, Principals, SAR High School, Riverdale

Seth Grauer, Rosh Yeshiva, Bnei Akiva Schools, Toronto

Eliezer Rubin, Head of School, Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School, Livingston

Bracha Rutner, Head of School, Yeshiva U High School for Girls, Holliswood

Ari Segal, Head of School, Shalhevet High School, LA

Yisrael Kaminetsky, Menahel, DRS High School for Boys, Woodmere

Bluma Drebin & Elisheva Kaminetsky, Principals, Stella K Abraham School, Hewlett Bay Park

Naomi Lippman, Principal, HAFTR High School, Cedarhurst

Tikvah Wiener, Head of School, The Idea School, Tenafly

Eli Slomnicki, Principal, Hebrew Academy of Nassau County, West Hempstead

Shlomo Adelman, Head of School, Torah Academy of Bergen County, Teaneck

Leonard Matanky, Dean, Ida Crown Academy, Skokie

Jeffrey Beer, Head of School, Westchester Hebrew High School, Mamaroneck

Gil Perl, Head of School, Kohelet Yeshiva, Merion Station

Raymond Harari & Joseph Beyda, Head of School & Principal, Yeshivah of Flatbush High School

CB Neugroschl, Head of School, Ma’ayanot Yeshiva HS, Teaneck

Joshua Kahn, Head of School, Yeshiva U High School for Boys, NYC

Yaakov Jaffe, Dean, Maimonides School, Brookline

Eli Ciner, Principal, Yeshivat Frisch, Paramus

Deena Kobre, Head of School, Naaleh High School for Girls, Ridgewood

Aryeh Sufrin, Head of School, YULA Boys High School, LA

Daniel Vitow, Headmaster, North Shore Hebrew Academy High School, Lake Success

Pinchas Hecht, Head of School, YULA Girls High School, LA

Far Rotaway said...

Dear TAG Parents,

At 9:30 this evening, we received a phone call from the NYC Department of Health ordering that the school be closed effective immediately. We have not been provided with any specific reasons, causes or duration of the closure. We anticipate a meeting with the DOH tomorrow at which we hope to receive additional information which we will share.

We apologize for this late notification; however, we were given no warning this closure was pending. Indeed, as you all know, TAG COVID policies exceed State & CDC Guidelines.

Unfortunately, as we all know, everything is in the hands of Hakadosh Boruch Hu & our ability to remain open is no different. Rest assured we will work tirelessly to ensure continued strict compliance with all laws & the health & happiness of our talmidos.

In the meantime, please keep an eye out for ZOOM instructions for tomorrow through Succos. We will work through the night to ensure seamless transition.

I can only request each parent beseech Hakadosh Boruch Hu to end this difficult tekufah & I thank all of you for your continued support & cooperation. If you have any concerns, please feel free to reach out to me, or any of our wonderful principals & administrators.

Rabbi Meyer Weitman
Dean

Philly gets Results said...

https://forward.com/news/455103/schools-are-not-reporting-covid-cases-among-students-asking-teachers-not/

Some Haredi yeshivas in Brooklyn are asking teachers not to get tested for COVID-19, and also not sharing information about students who test positive, to try to avoid school closures, said 3 sources with direct knowledge of specific schools said in interviews.

The news comes amid an uptick in COVID in 6 Queens-Brooklyn neighborhoods which include the “Ocean Parkway Cluster” of Borough Park, Midwood & Bensonhurst, according to a Department of Health statement.

At Bais Yaakov of Boro Park, administrators called teachers individually and asked them to do the school a “favor” & not test — “even if you have fever,” wrote one teacher in a text shared with the Forward. The school, with 2,000 students, told faculty to only seek testing if the school asks for it.

That school is one of many who have adopted this & similar strategies in order to remain open, said parents of students in Haredi Boro Park, a Brooklyn neighborhood home to several Orthodox communities, including Satmar, Bobov & Belz.

“This is one of the more open-minded schools in Boro Park, so I wouldn’t put it past other schools doing the same thing,” said one Boro Park resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity & who has direct knowledge of similar policies in this school & others. “They want to keep schools open at whatever cost.”

Other schools in the Satmar & Bobov communities have similar policies, said a Boro Park parent, who has children in several schools: “Schools tell students don’t tell anyone there was a student with COVID in school.”

The parent noted that there are outliers; Bais Brocho, affiliated with Karlin Stolin, tried to keep its classes socially distant when they had their first case a few weeks ago. The Stoliner Rebbe is one of the few Hasidic rebbes who is encouraging social distancing.

New York’s Haredi neighborhoods had been hit hard by the virus earlier this spring, with some estimating at least 700 deaths in the early weeks.

UOJ Gets Results said...

https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/coronavirus/2020/09/24/two-yeshivas-shut-down-as-covid-19-cases-rise-in-southern-brooklyn

According to wee hour mikva raid, the 2 "South Brooklyn" yeshivos shut down by de Blasio tonight are both SY, Modern Orthodox co-ed Magen David & the Agudah Fresser wannabes at Shaare Torah.

And both places are reportedly threatening to sue the City.

Although there is a minority subculture of anti-vaxxers among the Modern Orthodox, a litigation threat in Magen David's case, if true, is probably just greed. For wannabe Fressers however sadly, it's very likely a case of trying to be more Agudah than Agudah.

Aaron said...

It’s actually in their hands to fix the problem. It would seem most others know how to do it already. Hubris. Rabbinic leadership is officially dead. If anyone is reading this you need to learn to think for yourself. The rabbis have no clothes.