HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Jury duty notices have set Nicholas Philbrook’s home on edge with worries about him contracting the coronavirus and passing it on to his father-in-law, a cancer survivor with diabetes in his mid-70s who is at higher risk of developing serious complications from COVID-19. Philbrook and his wife, Heather Schmidt, of Camarillo, […]

QUEBEC (JTA) – Jewish groups in Quebec are expressing dismay after the province announced a plan to allow small gatherings at Christmas but said gatherings during Hanukkah would remain prohibited. The plan would permit Quebecers to have gatherings of up to 10 people per day for four days in late December, in a concession to […]

MOSCOW (VINnews) — Seven people died after drinking hand sanitizer at a drinking party in Russia where participants ran out of alcohol. Two more are in a coma in intensive care after they also consumed the hand wash. The incident occurred in the village of Tomtor in Yakutia, central Russia. The hand sanitizer had been […]

ESSEN, GERMANY (VINnews) — A German doctor at the Essen University hospital has been charged with manslaughter after he allegedly administered lethal medication to two critically ill patients with coronavirus, causing their immediate death. The patients, aged 47 and 50 ,died on November 13 and 17, but suspicions were raised about the way they died […]

WASHINGTON — The United States’ top infectious diseases expert says he’s worried that crowding at U.S. airports from Thanksgiving travel could lead to a perilous situation as COVID-19 cases surge. Dr. Anthony Fauci told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that the “people at airports” despite federal guidance to avoid travel “are going to get […]

BERLIN (AP) — A video went viral Sunday in Germany of a confrontation at a coronavirus protest, where a young woman compared herself to a famous Nazi resistance fighter and then was accused by a security guard of “trivalizing” the Holocaust. Several people protesting coronavirus restrictions in Germany that seek to tamp down new infections […]

BNEI BRAK (VINnews) — Despite the fact that the Chareidi community in Israel now has the lowest transmission rates in the entire population, individual Chareidim are still being stigmatized and suffering from discrimination and prejudices based on the misperception that Chareidim “spread disease.” In many workplaces, Chareidim have suffered from snide and humiliating remarks such […]

NEW YORK (VINnews) — Gov. Cuomo issued threats to a Satmar synagogue after a “secret” wedding was allegedly held with thousands in attendance. “It was a blatant disregard of the law. It’s illegal. It was also disrespectful to the people of New York,” Cuomo said during a Sunday press briefing. “The law protects everybody. It […]

NEW YORK (VINnews) — Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at his Sunday press briefing that several parts of New York are on track for going back to COVID-19 restrictions, due to a recent surge in infection rates. The areas in question are Upper Manhattan, parts of Staten Island and Long Island. “We have several communities that […]

ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA (VINnews) — A pizza worker who lied about his profession caused an estimated 1.7 million South Australia residents to go into lockdown after the state was convinced that a contagious new strain of COVID-19 had been discovered. The lockdown in the region, which has not seen any COVID-19 infections since April, beagan Wednesday […]