There are 16,608 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Israel as of Motzei Shabbos, with a total of 59 patients in serious condition of whom 49 are ventilated. The death toll has risen to 268. A total of 12,855 patients have recovered from the virus, leaving only 3,485 active cases. Following a meeting between Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu‏‏, head of the National Security Council, Meir Ben-Shabbat, and Interior Minister Aryeh Deri on Thursday night, it was announced that Israel’s beaches will be re-opened to the public on Wednesday. The fact that Israel is experiencing a week-long heavy heatwave may have influenced the decision.

Paul Manafort, Donald Trump’s onetime presidential campaign chairman who was convicted as part of the special counsel’s Russia investigation, has been released from federal prison to serve the rest of his sentence in home confinement due to concerns about the coronavirus, his lawyer said Wednesday. Manafort, 71, was released Wednesday morning from FCI Loretto, a low-security prison in Pennsylvania, according to his attorney Todd Blanche. Manafort had been serving more than seven years in prison following his conviction. His lawyers had asked the Bureau of Prisons to release him to home confinement, arguing that he was at high risk for coronavirus because of his age and preexisting medical conditions.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state is currently investigating more than 90 cases of “Covid-related diseases” in young children. “We have 93 cases we’re investigating of young children that have Covid-related diseases,” the governor said during his daily coronavirus press briefing Monday. Cuomo on Sunday said New York state was investigating 85 cases of a coronavirus-related illness that is afflicting children across the state. So far, three young New Yorkers have died from an illness that may be related to Covid-19 include a teenager in Suffolk County, as well as a 7-year-old in Westchester County and a 5-year-old in New York City, according to the governor’s office.

There are 16,477 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Israel as of Sunday evening with a total of 74 patients in serious condition of whom 65 are ventilated. There are 11,430 Israelis who have recovered from the coronavirus which leaves only 4,795 active cases. Israel’s death toll currently stands at 252. Health Ministry Deputy-Director-General Prof. Itamar Grotto said on Army Radio on Sunday morning that Israel should be prepared for another wave of the coronavirus in the summer as the rollback of restrictions take effect. He added that the coming week will be a decisive one regarding whether the government can continue with the loosening of restrictions or will have to return to imposing restrictions on movement.

There are 16,454 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Israel as of Motzei Shabbos, with 79 in serious condition, of whom 64 are ventilated. A total of 11,376 Israelis have recovered from the virus and the number of active cases has dropped to 4,831. The death toll has risen to 247. The number of confirmed cases in Bnei Brak as of Motzei Shabbos is 2,895 and the number of cases in Jerusalem is 3,635. About 15,000 Israelis visited nature reserves and national parks over the past few days as sites re-opened following a loosening of coronavirus restrictions, with the most popular sites being Caesarea, Ein Gedi and Beit Guvrin. Amazon, which had halted shipping to Israel on March 22 due to the coronavirus pandemic has resumed limited shipping to Israel as of Friday.

An ambulance overturned while responding to an emergency in Flatbush, Tuesday morning. It happened at around 6:30AM on Ocean Parkway and Avenue I. The ambulance belongs to “RCA”, a private ambulance company located in New York City. Thankfully, there were only minor injuries reported, and there were no patients in the ambulance at the time. It is unknown if the ambulance was responding to an emergency at the time, but photos and video below show the light of the ambulance flashing the entire time. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

President Donald Trump says he believes a vaccine for COVID-19 will be available by the end of the year. Trump also says the U.S. government is putting its “full power and might” behind remdesivir, a drug that has shown early promise as a treatment for the disease caused by the new coronavirus. Trump commented Sunday night during a televised town hall sponsored by Fox News Channel. Trump sat inside the Lincoln Memorial and fielded questions from two Fox hosts, as well as from people who submitted questions over Fox’s social media platforms. Trump responded to a Nebraska man who recovered from COVID-19 by saying: “We think we are going to have a vaccine by the end of this year.” He also said his administration was pushing hard for remdesivir. U.S.

A New York City nursing home on Friday reported the deaths of 98 residents believed to have had the coronavirus — a staggering death toll that shocked public officials. “It’s absolutely horrifying,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said. “It’s inestimable loss, and it’s just impossible to imagine so many people lost in one place.” It is hard to say whether the spate of deaths at the Isabella Geriatric Center, in Manhattan, is the worst nursing home outbreak yet in the U.S., because even within the city facilities have chosen to report fatalities in different ways. A state tally of nursing home deaths released Friday listed only 13 at the home.

Health Minister Yaakov Litzman (UTJ) told Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Friday that he is stepping down from his position, a Channel 12 News report said. Litzman will head the Construction and Housing Ministry instead, reportedly due to the Gerrer Rebbe’s instructions, as he wants Litzman to work toward solving the housing crisis in the Chareidi community. Litzman reportedly agreed to switch to the health ministry only if he would also gain control over the Israel Lands Authority. The health ministry was a major issue in the coalition agreements as Blue and White had insisted on the health ministry but Netanyahu refused to take the position from Litzman. Eventually, Blue and White conceded on the issue and received the foreign ministry instead.

Rav Binyamin Wolff, z’l, a Chabad shaliach in Hanover, Germany, passed away from the coronavirus on Friday night at the age of 43, leaving behind his wife, 8 young children, parents and siblings, B’Chadrei Chareidim reported. Rav Wolff is the son of Rav Menny and Feigel Wolff of Kiryat Malachi, Israel, and is the son-in-law of the famed Chabad shaliach Rav Moshe Greenberg, z’l, and his wife Devorah, of Bnei Brak. Rav Wolff was extremely successful as a shaliach in Hanover and over the years managed to make a complete turnabout in the Jewish identity of the lives of many Jews in the city. Yehi Zichro Baruch. STAY UPDATED WITH BREAKING UPDATES FROM YWN VIA WHATSAPP – SIGN UP NOW Just click on this link, and you will be placed into a group. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)