I have nothing but praise for the Roshei Yeshiva and Rabbonim of Lakewood. They took a bold move and put out strict guidelines for this coming Purim. They cancelled their Purim Mesiba. These decisions were likely painful and hard to make. Yet they did them, and they should be lauded and commended. The Rabbonim of Los Angeles have released a letter calling on out of towners NOT to come and collect there. It was signed by just about every Rov in Los Angeles. What about Flatbush, Boro Park, Williamsburg, Monsey, Five Towns, Chicago, Crown Heights etc etc? Will we hear similar announcements from our leadership? Besides for the sakonas nefashos of even one person getting sick and rachmana litzlan dying, what about the potential Chillul Hashem that will be caused?

Under fire over his management of the coronavirus’ lethal path through New York’s nursing homes, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday the state didn’t cover up deaths but should have moved faster to release some information sought by lawmakers, the public and the press. “All the deaths in the nursing homes and hospitals were always fully, publicly and accurately reported,” the Democratic governor said, weeks after the state was forced to acknowledge that its count of nursing home deaths excluded thousands of residents who perished after being taken to hospitals. He explained the matter Monday as a difference of “categorization,” with the state counting where deaths occurred and others seeking total deaths of nursing home residents, regardless of the location.

The Roshei Yeshiva and leading Rabbonim of Lakewood have released a Kol Koreh ahead of Purim, with strict guidelines due to COVID-19. Earlier Monday, Lakewood’s BMG announced that for the first time in 80 years, the Yeshiva won’t host their annual Purim Mesiba that attracts thousands. The announcement was made by Rabbi Aaron Kotler, CEO of BMG in the Asbury park Press. The letter from the Rabbonim was released in Lashon Kodesh, with a second letter with a loose translation in English, which is posted below: Due to the current COVID-19 situation, the following is recommended for Purim: • Broadly speaking, פורים should be celebrated with the same people you usually interact with. This means: There should not be large, open מסיבות.

Israel’s largest healthcare provider on Sunday reported a 94% drop in symptomatic COVID-19 infections among 600,000 people who received two doses of the Pfizer’s vaccine in the country’s biggest study to date. Health maintenance organization (HMO) Clalit, which covers more than half of all Israelis, said the same group was also 92% less likely to develop severe illness from the virus. The comparison was against a group of the same size, with matching medical histories, who had not received the vaccine. “It shows unequivocally that Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine is extremely effective in the real world a week after the second dose, just as it was found to be in the clinical study,” said Ran Balicer, Clalit’s chief innovation officer.

A new report from the New York Times alleges that President Donald Trump was sicker with COVID-19 than publicly acknowledged in October. According to the report, at one point, the former president had extremely low blood oxygen levels and a lung issue associated with pneumonia caused by the coronavirus. Before he was taken to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, officials believed that he would need to be put on a ventilator, the report continues. Additionally, the report alleges that Trump was found to have lung infiltrates, which contain substances such as fluid or bacteria and occur when the lungs become inflamed. Trump’s medical team repeatedly attempted to downplay the severity of his situation, saying that he was on “an upswing” while hospitalized at Walter Reed.

An ice storm forecasted to hit the Tri-State area is threatening to knock out power and create dangerous road conditions for drivers. The widespread freezing rain moves in later Monday. Ice accumulations that come overnight are expected to lead to hazardous driving conditions and could result in numerous power outages, especially north and west of the city were some places could see up to a quarter of an inch of ice. An ice storm warning has been issued for parts of northern New Jersey and New York starting 6 p.m. on Monday through 10 a.m. Tuesday. The rest of the tri-state remains under a winter weather advisory. The greatest threat of widespread ice accretion over half of an inch looks to be in the north and west.

Almost 40% of seriously ill coronavirus patients hospitalized in Israel’s hospitals in the past week are under the age of 60, as the nationwide vaccination drive begins to take effect among older Israelis. There is a clear decrease in serious illness among those ages 60 and older,” a report by the IDF’s Coronavirus Knowledge and Information Center stated. “There is an increase in the number of patients in serious condition among younger groups, which last week constituted about 40% of new serious cases.” Five girls aged 10-19 are currently hospitalized in serious condition as well as 17 patients in their 20s, 75 patients in their 30s, 103 patients in their 40s, and 177 patients in their 50s, according to a Channel 12 News report.

Karlin-Stoliner chassidim throughout Israel were informed on Motzei Shabbos that whoever attends tefillos or simchos at the chassidus in Givat Zeev is required to bring documentation that he either recovered from the coronavirus or has been fully vaccinated. The instructions come despite the fact that the Karlin-Stoliner Rebbe, Baruch Hashem, recovered from the coronavirus in October. The message added that anyone who received the second dose of the vaccine less than a week prior should continue to adhere to regulations and shouldn’t come to the chatzer at all until a week has passed.

Israel will allow foreign carriers to operate rescue flights to Israel following the US threat to ban El Al airplanes from landing in the US after Israel only granted permission to El Al to operate rescue flights to Tel Aviv, leaving out US airlines United and Delta. The Biden administration complained that Israel’s plan to allow only Israeli airlines to fly rescue flights for stranded Israelis is against the aviation agreements between them and accused them of creating a crisis with the new administration. Also, Israel’s coronavirus cabinet on Sunday voted to increase the number of daily rescue flights for stranded Israelis into Ben-Gurion Airport, allowing up to 2,000 passengers a day enter the country under specific criteria, beginning on February 20.

Thanks to a persistent NY State Trooper, a missing girl was miraculously found in a forest, Sunday afternoon. Sources tell YWN that Catskills Hatzolah and the NY State Police were called to a report of a missing teenager in the White Lake area. Upon arrival, first responders learned that a 16-year-old girl was missing in a heavily wooded area – with at least two feet of snow in many places. The search began, NYSP Zone Sergeant Hafele deployed a drone, while Trooper Nicholas D’Angelo of the New York State Police Liberty barracks began walking into the forest. Eye-witnesses tell YWN that the forest was covered in snow, and D’Angelo walked for hours, never relenting despite the snow and cold.