The Israeli Health Ministry issued a series of new regulations in an effort to staunch the spread of the Coronavirus in Israel. One of the regulations included that anyone who was returning from five countries in Europe to Israel (France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Spain) would have to enter into home quarantine upon returning to Israel. A flight attendant announced this on a flight that was about to take off in Berlin and head for Tel Aviv shortly after the new rules were announced to the public. As a result, approximately 10 passengers got up and left the plane in order to stay in Berlin and avoid undergoing house quarantine in Israel. Khan journalist Antonia Yamin was on the flight and recorded the message of the flight attendant.

Governor Phil Murphy, Acting Governor Sheila Oliver, and New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli tonight announced the first presumptive positive case of novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, in New Jersey. The individual, a male in his 30s, is hospitalized in Bergen County and has been hospitalized since March 3. “My Administration is working aggressively to keep residents safe and contain the spread of COVID-19 in New Jersey,” said Governor Murphy. “We take this situation very seriously and have been preparing for this for weeks. I urge residents to remain calm and use resources from the New Jersey Department of Health and Centers for Disease Control to prepare and prevent the spread of infection.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced five more positive cases of coronavirus in New York, bringing the total in the state to 11. Ten of those 11 cases stem from the same attorney from Westchester who tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Cuomo said someone who came into contact with the Westchester man has tested positive, as well as that man’s wife and their three children. One other daughter in the family tested negative. Cuomo said the following: “The not so good news is that there was another person who was being tested who came in contact with the 50 year old lawyer, a friend of the lawyer’s who he spent time with and in close proximity in a number of situations. That person also tested positive. We then tested that person’s wife, two sons, and daughter, and they all tested positive.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu spoke at a press conference on Wednesday afternoon about the coronavirus situation in Israel, which has become much more serious following the diagnosis of a high school student who attended a crowded soccer game before being diagnosed and the vice principal of an elementary school who also taught 5th grade. The 1,150 students in the high school and thousands of soccer fans who attended the game were instructed to self-quarantine on Wednesday. A staggering 100,000 Israelis are in quarantine at the moment, and the situation does not look like it is slowing down anytime soon.

A student at Yeshiva University has unfortunately tested positive for Coronavirus, and the Yeshiva and the MTA Yeshiva High School are taking every precaution. The latest case is the son of the Jewish lawyer from New Rochelle, who remains in critical condition in a Manhattan hospital. His name for Tehillim is אליעזר יצחק בן שפרה (Eliezer Yitzchok ben Shifra). The father works at Lewis and Garbuz P.C., a small law firm in midtown. At least seven contacts from his job are being evaluated for potential exposure, authorities told YWN. Y.U. sent out the following email moments ago: We have unfortunately confirmed that our student has tested positive for COVID-19 and our thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family as well as to all those affected.

A source told Yeshivah World News that the Chief Rabbi of Tehran, Rav Yehudah Grami, publicized a kol koreh to the Jewish communities in Iran not to fast on Taanis Esther due to pikuach nefesh. The outbreak of the coronavirus in Iran is the deadliest outside China and since fasting causes weakness and can lower the immune system, Rav Grami made a decision to forbid fasting on the upcoming Taanis. According to a recent report in the Mishpacha following the assassination of Quds commander Qassem Soleimani, Rabbi Grami, in his forties, left Iran as a bochur to learn in yeshivos, among them Ner Israel in Baltimore and has semichah from Rav Moshe Heinemann, the Rav of the Agudas Yisrael shul in Baltimore.

A ten-year-old Lakewood child is in critical condition after falling off a second story balcony, Tuesday evening. It happened just before 6:00PM at “Yeshiva Apartments”, located on 6th Street just off Princeton Avenue. The boy had apparently fallen over the railing on a porch, and fell two stories to the street below. Lakewood Hatzolah Paramedics rushed the child to the jersey Shore Trauma Center, where the boy was listen in critical condition. He reportedly suffered a skull fracture, and is unconscious. Please say tehillim for Moshe ben Dina. 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)

YWN has learned that one of the children of the Westchester attorney identified as New York’s second case of COVID-19 is an undergraduate male student at Yeshiva University. YU sent out the following message to all students and faculty: “We are working closely with, and following the recommendations of the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) and the Office of Emergency Preparedness and Response and other government agencies to take every necessary precaution to ensure the safety of our community. The student has not been on campus since Thursday, February 27th and is in quarantine with his family. The DOHMH is testing the family.

Three Jewish school in New York have decided to remain closed today after suspected Coronavirus. The first school to alert the parent body is “Salanter Akiba Riverdale Academy”, better known by the acronym, SAR Academy. The school is located in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, on West 254th Street. SAR Academy and SAR High School said in a statement that it was a precautionary measure, following guidelines from the New York City Department of Health. YWN has learned that a father of a student(s) in the SAR Academy is listed in serious condition in a Manhattan hospital. He works in Manhattan and was recently in Miami. His name for Tehillim is אליעזר יצחק בן שפרה (Eliezer Yitzchok ben Shifra).

There is a search underway by Rockland Chaveirim for a missing 16-year-old Yeshiva Boy in New Jersey. YWN has learned that the boy went missing a few hours ago in state park in Northern NJ. Dozens of Chaveirim members trained for night searches in all types of terrain are involved in the search. The boy was on a trip with his NYC based Mesivta when he went missing. Chaveirim are working with local and state officials on the search. Additional information will be published when it becomes available to us. 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)