WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is backing a $400 per week pandemic jobless benefit and is dangling the possibility of a COVID-19 relief bill above $1.5 trillion as last-ditch, pre-election negotiations hit a critical phase Thursday. The offer by Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on unemployment is higher than many Republicans would like in any […]

LONDON (AP) — October is prime time for flu vaccinations, and the U.S. and Europe are gearing up for what experts hope is high demand as countries seek to avoid a “twindemic” with COVID-19. “Take flu out of the equation this fall,” said Dr. Daniel Jernigan of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. […]

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Hadassah hospital reported this week that its experimental treatment based on plasma taken from the blood of recovered coronavirus patients has proved successful in curing the virus in critically ill patients. On Wednesday, a fifth patient who had been termed critically ill was released home after receiving the experimental treatment and recovering […]

LONDON (AP) — An ambitious humanitarian project to deliver coronavirus vaccines to the world’s poorest people is facing potential shortages of money, cargo planes, refrigeration and vaccines themselves — and running into skepticism even from some of those it’s intended to help most. In one of the biggest obstacles, rich countries have locked up most […]

BNEI BRAK (VINnews) — After Rabbi Chaim Kanievski’s driver tested positive on Erev Yom Kippur for coronavirus, it was reported by Haaretz’s Aharon Rabinowitz that a number of the rabbi’s grandchildren also tested positive this week for the virus. At least two of them had been in daily contact with the rabbi over the past […]

NEW YORK (AP) — The two largest school districts in the U.S. are rolling out ambitious and costly plans to test students and staff for the coronavirus, bidding to help keep school buildings open amid a rise in infections among the nation’s school-age children. New York City is set to begin testing 10% to 20% […]

NEW YORK (AP) — Fans can take themselves out to the ball game for the first time this season during the NL Championship Series and World Series at new Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Major League Baseball said Wednesday that about 11,500 tickets will be available for each game. That is about 28% of […]

BROOKLYN (VINnews/Sandy Eller) – Amid assurances by Mayor Bill de Blasio that the city is working closely with community leaders to stem the spread of coronavirus in hard hit Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods, the head of NYC Health + Hospitals’ Test and Trace Corps admitted that his program has few, if any, Yiddish speakers on staff. […]

NEW YORK (JTA) – As COVID-19 test positivity rates continue to climb in Orthodox communities in New York, a major leader of the Satmar Hasidic sect was put on a ventilator Wednesday morning after becoming critically ill with COVID-19. Flyers circulated online Wednesday morning calling for prayers for Mayer Rispler, a community leader in the […]

JERUSALEM (JTA) — The rabbinic leadership of the Sephardic Orthodox Shas party called for prayer services to be held outdoors only to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. It marked the first time that the Shas Council of Torah Sages has ordered the closure of all synagogues since the start of the pandemic, Haaretz reported. […]