U.S. regulators have approved a new type of coronavirus test that administration officials have promoted as a key to opening up the country. The Food and Drug Administration on Saturday announced emergency authorization for antigen tests developed by Quidel Corp. of San Diego. The test can rapidly detect fragments of virus proteins in samples collected from swabs swiped inside the nasal cavity, the FDA said in a statement. The antigen test is the third type of test to be authorized by the FDA. Currently, the only way to diagnose active COVID-19 is to test a patient’s nasal swab for the genetic material of the virus. While considered highly accurate, the tests can take hours and require expensive, specialized equipment mainly found at commercial labs, hospitals or universities.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has won bipartisan praise for rallying supplies for his ravaged hospitals and helping slow the coronavirus, is coming under increasing criticism for not bringing that same level of commitment to a problem that has so far stymied him: nursing homes. In part-lecture, part-cheerleading briefings that have made him a Democratic counter to President Donald Trump, Cuomo has often seemed dismissive and resigned to defeat when asked about his state leading the nation in nursing home deaths. “We’ve tried everything to keep it out of a nursing home, but it’s virtually impossible,” Cuomo told reporters. “Now is not the best time to put your mother in a nursing home.

The members of Queens Hatzolah were saluted today for the incredible response to COVID-19, as they treated thousands of patients suffering from the virus. They were saluted by NYPD, FDNY, and many private ambulance companies. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
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While many students from the general population of Israel returned to school on Sunday, Chareidi students held off and waited for a more outlined plan of how to operate when sending students back to school in the wake of the Coronavirus. In the general population, students from grades 1-3 and 11 and 12 returned to school on Sunday. According to instructions given by Hagaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky and Hagaon HaRav Gershon Edelstein, yeshiva ketanos and Chareidi students from grades 7 and 8 will return to school on Monday. The return will be under strict protocols outlined by a committee that was set up by the Gedolei Yisrael to oversee the adherence of regulations. There has not been any decision as of yet with regards to the return of the Chareidi children in grades 1-3.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un did not undergo surgery or any other medical procedure, a South Korean official said Sunday, amid speculation about his health that continues to linger even after he reappeared publicly in recent days. North Korea had said Saturday that Kim attended the completion of a fertilizer factory near Pyongyang on Friday, in his first public appearance in about 20 days. While North Korean video showing a smiling Kim moving around, cutting a red ribbon and smoking quelled intense rumors that he might be gravely ill or even have died, some media outlets and observers still raised questions about his health, citing moments when his walking looked a bit stiff at the factory.

There are 16,193 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in Israel as of Sunday, which is only 41 new cases of the virus in the past 24 hours. A total of 103 are in serious condition, of whom 82 are ventilated. A total of 9,634 Israelis have recovered from the virus which means that there are currently only 6,363 active cases of the virus in Israel. Israel recorded its 230th death on Sunday after an 86-year-old resident of the Yokra nursing home in Yavne’el passed away overnight Motzei Shabbos, the 22nd fatality from the facility. Israel’s first through third graders and 11th and 12th graders in the state school (mamlachti) system returned to their classrooms on Sunday after seven weeks of long-distance learning due to the lockdown.

Air travel to Israel has come to a near standstill due to coronavirus restrictions, but one type of voyage still endures: the final journey of Jews wishing to be buried in Israel. For centuries, Jews have sought to be interred in the Holy Land, going to great lengths to secure their final resting place in the land of their biblical forefathers. Today, not even a once-in-a-century pandemic is halting this ancient last wish. “The Land of Israel is a very special place for Jewish people to be buried,” said Rabbi Michoel Fletcher, who facilitates purchases of burial plots in Israel for Jews from abroad. “The flights have been reduced heavily, but there are cargo flights.

R’ Yehosef Yosef Halevi Dachuch, a member of the Chabad community in Bnei Brak, was niftar due to the coronavirus on Wednesday. R’ Dachuch was born in Yemen and made aliyah to Israel with his family. As a bochur, he learned in a Chabad yeshivah in Lod and later moved to Bnei Brak. The niftar taught for over 30 years at the Sanzer Talmud Torah in Bnei Brak, where he was especially beloved by the children. His friends and colleagues said that he never once got angry at a child or at anyone else. Rav Dachuch contracted the coronavirus and he was transferred from his nursing home in Bnei Brak to Kaplan Hospital in Rechovot where he was niftar at the age of 80. He left behind a wife but unfortunately, he and his wife never had children.

Harav Eliyahu Kohanim, zt’l, a talmid chacham, ish chessed and ba’al tzedaka, was niftar from the coronavirus on Monday at the age of 82 in Ma’ayanei Hayeshua Hospital, B’Chadrei Chareidim reported. In his youth, Rav Kohanim learned Torah b’hasmadah, becoming a reputable talmid chacham and learning kaballah with renowned mekubalim, including Hagaon Harav Yaakov Hillel and others. Later, Rav Kohanim, a resident of Bnei Brak, became a successful businessman but lived extremely modestly and spent most of his day learning Torah. He had a large part in establishing the yeshivah Yakirei Yerushalayim, partnering with his brother, the Rosh Yeshivah, Hagaon Harav Yehudah Cohen.

HaRav Avrohom Klyne returned home to singing and dancing on Friday, after a few weeks stay in the Intensive Care Unit, where he was listed in serious condition due to COVID-19. Rav Klyne is a Rebbe in Yavneh for more than 30 years. Other COVID-19 patients from Los Angeles who were hospitalized have Boruch hashem been released including R’ Zvika Ryzman. Please make sure to send any good news (and video) of COVID-19 patients recovering to YWN so we can publish them. 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 World Headquarters – NYC)