WASHINGTON — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says President Donald Trump shouldn’t be rushing to reopen schools and businesses amid the coronavirus pandemic. The top Democrat in Congress says the government should be “taking every precaution” and that there needs to be more testing for the virus in place to determine if areas currently showing fewer […]

BNEI BRAK (VINnews) — Hagaon Rav Chaim Kanievski has ruled that at present one is obligated to daven in private without a minyan. Rav Chaim says that we are in a situation of Pikuach Nefesh (saving lives) and added that those who violate health ministry regulations are considered to be a rodef (one who is […]

NEW YORK (THE CONVERSATION/AP/Hector Chapa Texas A&M University) “So, being pregnant and delivering in a pandemic … what’s that gonna look like?” That question, sent to me by a colleague who is both a registered nurse and an expectant mother, stopped me in my tracks. As an OB-GYN physician, I naturally focus on the science […]

PANAMA CITY (AP) — Four passengers have died aboard a cruise ship now anchored off the coast of Panama and two people aboard the ship have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, the cruise line said Friday. Holland America Line said in a post on its Facebook page that more than 130 people aboard the […]

NEW YORK (THE CONVERSATION/AP) Doctors from around the world are reporting cases of COVID-19 patients who have lost their sense of smell, known as anosmia, or taste, known as ageusia. The director of the University of Florida’s Center for Smell and Taste and the co-director of the UF Health Smell Disorders Program answer questions about […]

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — More than 500 of the latest cases diagnosed with coronavirus in Israel were people who were quarantined by the Israeli Shin Bet which used its surveillance technology to determine which people were closest to those infected previously and then ordered them to enter quarantine. The controversial surveillance program, which some claimed was […]

MIAMI (VINnews) —Eli Beer, the head of United Hatzalah is hospitalized in serious condition in Miami suffering from coronavirus. His family gave the following update on Eli’s condition: “As you may be aware, Eli was diagnosed with COVID-19 at the end of last week. He was put on a ventilator last Friday evening. Eli is […]

BNEI BRAK (VINnews) — Bnei Brak mayor Avraham Rubinstein who is isolated in quarantine at present issued a special appeal to local residents in the wake of the recent surge in coronavirus cases. “In Bnei Brak unfortunately there are about 300 cases of coronavirus. This is the most rampant and dangerous level of infection in […]

NEW YORK (VINnews/Rabbi Levi Welton) — “Stay home. Save lives.” These words blinked on the overhead electronic traffic sign as I sped down the highway. As a medical professional treating patients in the U.S. epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, my work is considered “essential business.” With the infection rate doubling every 3 days, many New […]

NEW YORK (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 […]