Nurses on the front lines of New York’s COVID-19 pandemic are calling for the state to enact minimum staffing standards ahead of another wave of infections. Health care industry leaders, though, warn that passing such a law would saddle facilities with billions of dollars in extra costs they can’t afford. Under legislation now before a legislative committee, the state would for the first time set minimum nurse-to-patient ratios, including a standard of one nurse for every two patients in intensive care units. California now has such a law. Other states don’t. Supporters say the legislation would boost the quality of care, reduce staff burnout and let the state hold health care facilities accountable for inadequate staffing.

One of the State University of New York’s campuses will shut down for two weeks after more than 100 people in the college community tested positive for the coronavirus, officials announced Sunday. The positive cases at SUNY Oneonta represent about 3% of the students and faculty on campus this semester, said Jim Malatras, the chancellor of the state university system. Malatras, who joined Gov. Andrew Cuomo on a conference call, said five students have been suspended because of large parties that were held last week. He said three rapid-result testing sites will be set up in Oneonta starting Wednesday.

Nationally, in recent days and weeks, Agudath Israel of America has received concurrent reports of an uptick in COVID-19 cases in communities in Lakewood, Cleveland, Rockland County, Five Towns, Brooklyn, Passaic, and Baltimore. With yeshivos imminently reopening for the school year, it is critical to bring this trend under control. For months, COVID-19 rates in many areas have, boruch Hashem, been low. But our communities are tight-knit and closely linked. Therefore, trends within our communities must be closely and holistically monitored, and every community must remain vigilant to protect all our communities. Kol Yisroel areivim zeh ba’zeh. Many of the cases nationally have been traced to large simcha gatherings.

Authorities are on the hunt for a vandal they say has smashed hundreds of windows on New York City subway trains. More than 400 windows have been damaged since May, costing nearly $400,000 to fix and all but exhausting supplies of replacement windows, the city’s transit agency said. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the police department this week announced a $12,500 reward for information leading to an arrest. On Wednesday, police released photos and video of a possible suspect — a man wearing a white tank top, gray pants, beige hat and blue surgical mask. Most of the damage has been on the 7-line linking Queens and Manhattan. Windows on 2 and 3 trains have also been smashed, police said.

Three of the four residents of New York City public housing whose criticisms of Mayor Bill de Blasio were used in a video at the Republican National Convention said they were never told their comments were to be showcased in that manner. The New York Times reported Friday that Claudia Perez, Carmen Quinones and Manny Martinez didn’t know that their comments from an interview with Lynne Patton were going to be used in support of President Donald Trump. Quinones, a Democrat, told the Times that Patton — a Trump administration appointee with the Department of Housing and Urban Development — had called her and asked her to bring together some people to speak about the city’s housing authority and their concerns, but that she was never told it would be part of the convention.

National Weather Service teams have confirmed that tornadoes touched down in southern Connecticut and in the suburbs north of New York City and uprooted and snapped trees during Thursday’s storms that caused power outages for tens of thousands of residents. Hundreds of crews have been repairing the damage in New Haven County in Connecticut and Orange County in New York, where hundreds of homes and business lost power. Gov. Ned Lamont had declared a state of emergency in Connecticut, where over 50,000 homes lost power in the storm.

A commuter bus slammed into a divider at New York City’s main bus terminal on Saturday, injuring 16 people – one critically, the fire department said. The New Jersey Transit bus crashed around 9:30 a.m. on an upper ramp at the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Manhattan, tossing passengers around and causing major damage to the vehicle’s front end. “There were multiple patients laying on the floor, around the vehicle and then multiple patients that were still trapped inside of the vehicle,” EMS Deputy Chief Kevin Ramdayal said. Eleven people were taken to hospitals for treatment, including one person Ramdayal that said had “severely critical” injuries. Others were treated at the scene. The bus appeared to be departing the terminal when it crashed, officials said.

With coronavirus cases cropping up at colleges nationwide, New York will require schools to switch to remote learning for two weeks when cases surge, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Thursday. Cuomo said he expects campus-based clusters now that many schools have welcomed students back for the fall semester. He mentioned “troubling reports” of students congregating after Syracuse University, Marist College and SUNY Plattsburgh each have recently suspended students after gatherings. “When you have large congregations of people, anticipate a cluster,” Cuomo told reporters during a phone-in briefing. “We expect it.

(By Rabbi Abe Friedman; Law Enforcement Chaplain) This summer has been one unlike any other and as we count down the final weeks toward fall, it seems appropriate to reflect upon all that we have experienced as a community since the pandemic struck. We have survived months where enormous challenges and devastating uncertainty seemed insurmountable, and the unprecedented loss of life has left us all shaken to the core. Our schools, businesses, synagogues, hospitals, summer camps and other institutions all bear COVID-related scars and yet looking at the big picture, it is clear to see the many rays of light that have emerged amid the darkness.

The shared moped service Revel, which suspended service in New York City after three deaths, is returning to city streets with new rules including a 21-question safety test, the company announced Thursday. “Revel was born and bred in New York City, and we’re proud to relaunch in our hometown with an even better service,” Revel chief executive officer Frank Reig said in a news release announcing the return of the blue scooters that were seen as an alternative to taxis and subways during the coronavirus pandemic. The scooter startup suspended New York City service on July 28 after two fatal crashes. A third Revel rider who was injured before the shutdown died later. Two of the three people who died were not wearing helmets, officials said.