Senior health officials and hospital directors called on Sunday for Israel’s lockdown to be tightened. Health Ministry Director-General Prof. Chezi Levy told Ynet: “The infection rate is running amok and doubling itself and the number of seriously ill patients in hospitals have doubled in less than 10 days.” Levy added that the current lockdown is not adequate and a tighter lockdown is required to bring the infection rate down.

If anyone still has any question what NYC has descended into under the leadership of Socialist Mayor Bill DeBlasio, one just need to see the attached videos. According to eye-witnesses who took to twitter to report what they saw, it happened on Tuesday when a large group of youths on bicycles shut down traffic at 5th Avenue & 21st Street in Manhattan. The car had Physician license plates and was occupied by a son who was taking his elderly mother to see the X-mas lights in Manhattan. The pack of thugs reportedly hung onto the moving car to “catch a ride” when the driver slammed on the brakes, causing one rider to crash. That is what apparently sparked the violent attack. Watch how the group began banging on the windows, the hood and doors.

A 31 year old Frum man is in critical condition, after he was struck by a drunk driver early Tuesday morning. Sources tell YWN that the victim was roller-blading, when he was struck by a vehicle on Ft Hamilton Parkway and 42nd Street at around 2:30AM. The driver tried fleeing the scene, but thankfully, the incident was witnessed by a passing police car from the 66 Precinct. Officers chased the vehicle to 10th Avenue and 44th Street, where the driver was taken into custody. One of his charges was DWI. FDNY EMS rushed the man to Maimonides Hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery for a serious head injury.

A group of burglary suspects managed to get away from police after an early morning Police chase. Police say that at around 3:00AM, a car occupied by three suspects attempted to steal ATM machines from multiple locations around Spring Valley and Monsey. The burglars were successful by at least one location – the Exxon Station on Route 59 in Monsey. Police responded, and attempted to stop the suspects. After a high-speed pursuit on the Palisades Parkway, the suspects managed to get away. Chaveirim of Rockland are assisting police with gathering security camera footage from various loactions. JOIN THE TENS OF THOUSANDS WHO ALREADY ARE ALERTED OF BREAKING NEWS LIKE THIS IN LIVE TIME: YWN WHATSAPP STATUS UPDATES: CLICK HERE to join the YWN WhatsApp Status.

A Frum man was stabbed in Lakewood, Tuesday morning. Police responded to the scene at around 9:00AM, after an emotionally disturbed woman stabbed the victim who was walking on Martin Luther King Drive. Sources tell YWN the stabbing was a totally unprovoked attack. The victim was transported to the hospital with minor injuries, and the suspect – who is known to authorities – has been taken into custody. JOIN THE TENS OF THOUSANDS WHO ALREADY ARE ALERTED OF BREAKING NEWS LIKE THIS IN LIVE TIME: YWN WHATSAPP STATUS UPDATES: CLICK HERE to join the YWN WhatsApp Status. YWN WHATSAPP GROUPS: CLICK HERE to be added to an official YWN WhatsApp Group. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The governor said the state was investigating an incident of possible vaccination fraud, in a situation where a health care provider wasn’t following the priority population process. “Vaccines are valuable and there will be people who break the law and were looking at one health care provider who may have done that,” Gov. Cuomo said. “We want to send a clear signal to the providers that if you violate the law on these vaccinations, we will find out and you will be prosecuted.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals just issued a ruling declaring that Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order restricting attendance at houses of worship “discriminates against religion on its face.” The United States Supreme had previously issued an injunction against the 10 and 25 person limitations imposed by Cuomo, pending the Agudah’s appeal. On December 18 — the last day of Chanukah – the Agudah’s appeal was heard by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. The case challenged not only the 10 and 25 person limits but also the 25% and 33% capacity limitations as well. In a first-in-the-nation decision, the Court held that the 25% and 33% limitations on attendance at houses of worship are subject to strict scrutiny.

Israel’s Health Ministry published the statistics of new Covid-19 cases from the weekend. More than 5,433 people tested positive for the virus and an additional 20 people died in hospital as a result of the virus. On Friday, 85,000 tests were conducted and run through laboratories and on Shabbos 40,000 tests were conducted. There are currently 35,000 active cases of the virus in Israel and 561 people are hospitalized in serious condition and 136 on respirators. The total mortality count since the beginning of the disease in Israel is 3,203. A mission from Morocco will be landing in Israel at the beginning of next week in order to further the diplomatic connections between the two countries.

A coronavirus patient is accused of beating his 82-year-old hospital roommate to death with an oxygen tank in Lancaster, Calif., last week because he was upset with his Catholic prayers, according to authorities. The victim shared a two-person room at Antelope Valley Hospital with the suspect, 37-year-old Jesse Martinez. They were both undergoing treatment for COVID-19, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. The two did not know each other, but the elderly victim’s praying upset Martinez on the morning of Dec. 17, authorities said. The suspect is accused of grabbing an oxygen tank and pummeling the victim. Hospital workers detained Martinez at the scene until law enforcement arrived, the Los Angeles Times reported. The 82-year-old was pronounced dead at 10:20 a.m.

The Tri-State area will be impacted by thunderstorms, heavy rain and wind gusts topping 70 mph on Thursday night into Friday morning, before colder air sweeps into the tri-state on a blustery Erev Shabbos. Conditions will become increasingly cloudy and very windy during the day Thursday ahead of rain that arrives towards evening, according to AccuWeather. The high will be 59. The rocky weather hits Thursday night into early Friday, when wind gusts will kick up to 50, 60 or even 70 mph. The strongest gusts are possible along the coast. Expect power outages at the height of the storm between 2 a.m. and 8 a.m. The low will be 55. A High Wind Warning will be in effect for New York City and Long Island, as well as parts of New Jersey and Westchester, from 6 p.m. Thursday to 10 a.m. Friday.