Torah Academy for Girls in Far Rockaway was forced to close due to COVID-19 on Wednesday night. The school sent the parent body the following email: Dear TAG Parents, At 9:30 this evening, we received a phone call from the NYC Department of Health ordering that the school be closed effective immediately. We have not been provided with any specific details as relates to the reasons, causes or duration of the closure. We anticipate a meeting with the DOH tomorrow morning at which we hope to receive additional information which we will share with you. We apologize for this late notification; however, we were given no warning that this closure was pending. Indeed, as you all know, TAG COVID policies met and exceeded all published State and CDC Guidelines.

In light of the frightening rise in the coronavirus infection rate and the growing number of seriously ill patients, Israel’s Chevrei Kaddisha are preparing for a possible high number of niftarim, lo aleinu. The Chevra Kadisha in Haifa has acquired a refrigerated shipping container that can hold hundreds of bodies, Channel 13 News reported. Similiar containers will be set up around Israel if needed, the report said. The number of seriously ill patients as of Wednesday morning was nearing 700, with 800 being the frequently cited maximum number of patients that Israel’s hospitals can treat. Meanwhile, a total of 4,331 medical professionals are in quarantine and many hospitals are operating beyond 100% capacity, with patients in beds in hallways.

After a full day of squabbling, name-calling, arguing, and walkouts, members of the Corona Cabinet decided that as of Friday, Israel will face a hermetic lockdown for two weeks until Simchas Torah. The upcoming lockdown will considerably tighten the rules on the Israeli public from the current lockdown that people are in. According to the upcoming rules, all stores and businesses that are non-essential will be closed. A prohibition will be in effect outlawing any gathering aside from their nuclear family. It is still unclear what will befall the necessary preparations for Sukkos including the purchasing of arba minim, and materials for building sukkahs. Shuls will be allowed to convene only in outdoor spaces and will have up to 20 participants.

The city’s Department of Health & Mental Hygiene made an ominous announcement Tuesday night: Several neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens are experiencing an uptick in COVID-19 — including an area it is dubbing “The Ocean Parkway Cluster” — and the rise in cases is “cause for significant concern.” The department said there are several COVID-19 “signals” in the two boroughs “that are cause for significant concern. Moreover, this situation will require further action if noncompliance with safety precautions is observed.” “For weeks we have been closely monitoring signals in neighborhoods that have seen growth in COVID-19,” reads a statement.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu‏‏ is calling for the immediate implementation of tightened restrictions on Israel’s public sphere and economy. Netanyahu asserted that Israel is in a state of a national health emergency and restrictions must be tightened in a meeting on Wednesday with Health Minister Yuli Edelstein and other senior ministers, Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit, and Israel Police representatives. The prime minister is requesting a partial closure of Ben-Gurion Airport, allowing flights to arrive but banning departure flights, the closure of shuls, limitations on public protests and further restrictions on the private business sector. The government will also request that recently retired doctors return to work to support hospitals in caring for coronavirus patients.

As Israel’s daily coronavirus cases continue to soar, the coronavirus cabinet met for over eight hours on Tuesday to discuss further restrictions to combat the growing spread of the coronavirus but the meeting ended without any decisions. Following the meeting, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu‏‏ said that “the decisions will be reached no later than tomorrow.” The cabinet is expected to reconvene on Wednesday to reach a final decision on further restrictions. The key issue that led to the lack of decisions was that of closing shuls, especially on Yom Kippur, followed by the issue of the ongoing protests against Netanyahu. Interior Minister Aryeh Deri threatened to resign if shuls will be closed while protests are allowed to continue.

A man was arrested after starting a fire in Williamsburg late Tuesday night. Sources tell YWN that a man set a large pile of trash on fire next to a building on Kent Avenue & Willoughby Avenue. The fire department responded and thankfully put out the blaze before it could cause serious damage. Thanks to fast-responding Williamsburg Shomrim volunteers, the arsonist was taken into custody by the NYPD a short while later on Grand Avenue and Fulton Street. Charges were pending. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus topped 200,000 Tuesday, by far the highest in the world, hitting the once-unimaginable threshold six weeks before an election that is certain to be a referendum in part on President Donald Trump’s handling of the crisis. “It is completely unfathomable that we’ve reached this point,” said Jennifer Nuzzo, a Johns Hopkins University public health researcher, eight months after the scourge first reached the world’s richest nation, with its state-of-the-art laboratories, top-flight scientists and stockpiles of medical supplies. The number of dead is equivalent to a 9/11 attack every day for 67 days. It is roughly equal to the population of Salt Lake City or Huntsville, Alabama. And it is still climbing.

Israel’s Health Ministry confirmed 3,843 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday morning. However, only 33,119 people were tested on Monday, meaning that the percentage of positive results hit a record 11.6%. There are currently 50,563 active virus cases, with 668 seriously ill patients, of whom 169 are ventilated. The death toll has risen to 1,285. Israel’s coronavirus cabinet convened on Tuesday afternoon to discuss tightening the parameters of the current lockdown, which would render it similar to the stricter closure imposed before Pesach. The restrictions would include further limiting the number of employees allowed in private workplaces and more strictly enforcing limits on gatherings, including the closure of shuls and limiting even outdoor minyanim.

The Israeli and Dubai diamond exchanges announced Thursday they had struck a deal to boost trade, just days after Israel signed breakthrough agreements with United Arab Emirates and Bahrain at the White House to normalize their relations. With the U.S.-brokered agreements, the UAE and Israel are taking their quiet economic ties public for the first time. The UAE announced the end of its boycott of Israel last month, allowing commerce to flow between the oil-rich Emirates and Israel. Already, Emirati and Israeli banks and research firms have rushed to sign agreements. Israel, once the world’s largest diamond sales center, remains a major leader in the polishing of large diamonds and is home to a booming high-tech sector.