WASHINGTON (AP) — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is considering changing its guidelines for self-isolation to make it easier for those who have been exposed to someone with the coronavirus to return to work if they are asymptomatic. The public health agency, in conjunction with the White House coronavirus task force, is considering […]

NEW YORK (VINnews) — Chabad Chasidim worldwide were plunged into mourning with the passing of Rabbi Yehuda Leib Gruner, who served as the personal secretary of the Lubavitcher Rebbe for over four decades. Rabbi Gruner (88) died of the coronavirus. Rabbi Gruner was born on the 7th of Iyar 1931 to a family descended from […]

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City’s death toll from the coronavirus rose past 4,000 on Tuesday, eclipsing the number killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11. In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson lay in intensive care, believed to be the first major world leader hospitalized with the virus. The twin developments came even […]

JERUSALEM (JNS) — The Israeli government announced on Tuesday a new regulation requiring people to wear masks in public in order to help stop the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israelis last week to wear masks in public, and that it would become mandatory on Sunday as Israel enters […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said he would “put a hold” on U.S. funding for the World Health Organization, before backtracking and claiming, “I’m not saying I’m going to do it.” Trump made the comments at a White House press briefing as deaths and infections across the country continue to rise. Trump at first […]

RUSSIA (JTA) — Viktor Vekselberg, a Russian-Jewish businessman, is providing 3,000 free meals a day to Russians older than 65 in lockdown over the coronavirus. Vekselberg’s free meals project, which began last week, is set to continue until the end of April, his office wrote in a statement. The initiative is a response to the […]

NEW YORK (AP) – Anna Fortunato, a 90-year-old survivor of COVID-19, has a message for the rest of us: Do not be afraid. Do not despair. “Keep on fighting, have that positive attitude, and pray,” she says. “And get out of bed. Don’t stay in bed all the time. … And I want to say […]

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Israeli Defense Minister Naftali Bennett urged Jews worldwide not to make a Pesach Seder with their grandparents, since the most lethal infections of coronavirus have come from children and grandchildren infecting their grandparents. Bennett suggested that prior to the real Seder people should make a Zoom Seder with their grandparents in which […]

NEW YORK (JTA) — New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called on the Orthodox Jewish community to refrain from holding large religious gatherings, saying on Tuesday that the New York Police Department will “do what they need to do” to enforce his social distancing regulations. “I made it clear yesterday that these social distancing regulations are […]

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a rare move, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday he will attempt to swiftly pass additional funds for small businesses to keep making payroll as Congress rushes to provide more aid during the coronavirus crisis. The Republican leader plans a vote this week to supplement the $350 billion approved for […]