SanitizeDirect.com one of the few places still supplying disinfectant products to keep your family safe. (Use Code “YWN” For 10% off Your Order) The coronavirus has hit hard across the world. The numbers are rapidly growing and experts say it can be months before a vaccine is released. Countries are in turmoil and quarantine has even become mandatory in Israel for 14 days upon arrival. Unfortunately, the Jewish community in the states has also been seeing its fair share of the outbreak with the number of confirmed cases in the hundreds now. There have been dozens of cases found in the five boroughs, California, Florida and many other areas as well. Many of them were linked to the AIPAC conference and others still have unknown sources of origin.

A sign on the wall of Hagaon Harav Chaim Kanievsky’s home on Thursday morning announced that the Gadol’s kabalas kahal has been discontinued, Kikar H’Shabbos reported. The unprecedented announcement of the cancellation of the Gadol HaTorah’s kabalas kahal follows the Health Ministry’s announcement on Wednesday night about tightened restrictions against the spread of the coronavirus in Israel, including a ban of gatherings of over 100 people. According to Harav Chaim’s bnei bayis, there are at least 100 people in Harav Chaim’s small home in Bnei Brak during the daily kabalas kahal and many of the visitors are tourists and businessmen from abroad, increasing the risk of infection.

U.S. stocks fell sharply once again on Thursday after an address from President Donald Trump failed to quell concerns over the possible economic slowdown from the coronavirus. The S&P 500 dropped 7% shortly after the open, triggering a 15-minute “circuit breaker,” which temporarily halts trading at the New York Stock Exchange. The broad index also joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average in bear market territory. The 30-stock Dow slid more than 1,600 points, or 7.%. The Nasdaq Composite dropped 7%. Before the open, futures contracts tied to the major indexes fell to their so-called limit down thresholds, sliding 5%. These limit down levels act as a as a floor for selling until regular trading begins.

Rav Shimon Galai and Rav Mordechai Shmuel Edelstein made a rare move this week by releasing a public letter on the behalf of a Bnei Brak talmid chacham. The statement reads as follows: “We are coming with a fervent request for one of our fellow citizens of our city, Bnei Brak, who teaches Torah and a father to a large family. He has found himself in serious financial trouble, he is drowning in [medical] debt and his home is about to collapse… Certainly, whoever helps this family will merit Heavenly help and much success in everything they do.

Dear Friends, We are writing with an important update regarding COVID-19 and the ongoing health situation in our community. Last night, the rabbis of the Rabbinical Council of Bergen County (RCBC), the presidents of our shuls, and the heads of our local schools gathered to meet with representatives of local government, including the Teaneck Department of Health and expert physicians from our three local hospitals: Englewood Health, Hackensack University Medical Center, and Holy Name Medical Center. The message from the healthcare providers was clear. They need our help to slow the spread of the disease before their resources are overwhelmed.

There are 100 people in Israel diagnosed with the coronavirus, with two patients in serious condition and three in moderate condition, Israel’s Health Ministry announced on Thursday. The condition of a 60-year-old employee of Ben-Gurion Airport hospitalized in Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv with the coronavirus deteriorated on Wednesday. He is currently unconscious and on a respirator. The condition of the second seriously ill Israeli, an East Jerusalem resident hospitalized in Poriya Hospital in Tiverya has slightly improved and his condition is stable. The patient contracted the virus after serving as a bus driver for a group of Greek tourists who had toured Israel and Egypt and were diagnosed with the virus upon their return to Greece.

Is your driver’s license valid? It may not be. In the last 28 months, New York issued nearly 1.7 million driver’s license suspensions for not paying traffic tickets. That is nearly two thirds of all license suspensions in New York. New York State lawmakers are saying enough is enough. A new bill sponsored by Assemblywoman Pamela Hunter and co-sponsored by Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein seeks to amend the vehicle and traffic law so that drivers who owe unpaid fines will not face arbitrary license suspension. “License suspension has significant adverse consequences,” said Assemblyman Simcha Eichenstein. “Without a driver’s license a person cannot drive to work or to school or even to court to pay their fine.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday he is suspending all travel between the U.S. and Europe for 30 days beginning Friday as he seeks to combat a viral pandemic. Trump made the announcement in an Oval Office address to the nation, blaming the European Union for not acting quickly enough to address the “foreign virus” and saying U.S. clusters were “seeded” by European travelers. “We made a lifesaving move with early action on China,” Trump said. “Now we must take the same action with Europe.” Trump said the restrictions won’t apply to the United Kingdom and the U.S. would monitor the situation to determine if travel could be reopened earlier.

The federal government’s top infectious disease expert told lawmakers Wednesday that the novel coronavirus spreading across the globe is 10 times more lethal than the seasonal flu. “I mean people always say, ‘Well, the flu does this, the flu does that,’” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), said Wednesday during a hearing before the House Oversight and Reform Committee. “The flu has a mortality rate of 0.1 percent. This has a mortality rate of 10 times that. That’s the reason I want to emphasize we have to stay ahead of the game in preventing this,” he added. Fauci warned that the outbreak in the U.S. is going to get worse before it gets better and said the U.S. must act quickly to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

Governors and other leaders scrambling to slow the spread of the coronavirus stepped up bans on large public gatherings and a rapidly expanding list of universities moved classes online, as the U.S. government’s top infectious-disease expert Wednesday warned that the worst is yet to come. With cases in the U.S. now topping 1,000 and the number of deaths climbing to 31, lawmakers and health officials set up containment zones and sought to limit contact with those who might be infected. “I can say we will see more cases and things will get worse than they are right now,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allegy and Infectious Diseases, said on Capitol Hill. As for how much worse, Fauci said that would depend on the ability of the U.S.