After CNN’s John King described a video played at President Donald Trump’s coronavirus briefing this week as propaganda, the response was predictable. So why is CNN airing it? The moment intensified a debate over how much unfiltered airtime the president should get virtually every day during a pandemic. The coverage is a moving target, with CNN and MSNBC taking a more critical approach lately. Yet despite on-air talent like Rachel Maddow, Don Lemon, Chris Hayes and Joe Scarborough suggesting they’d pull the plug if it were up to them, their bosses have given no indication that they will. Each day, the decisions are also being played out in newsrooms across the country.

In Wall Street’s tug of war between hope and pessimism about the coronavirus pandemic, hope is pulling back. U.S. stocks joined a worldwide rally Friday and closed out their first back-to-back weekly gain since the market began selling off two months ago. The S&P 500 jumped 2.7% Friday, following up on even bigger gains in Europe and Asia, as investors latched onto several strands of hope about progress in the fight against the coronavirus. They included the White House’s release of guidelines for states to reopen their economies and a very early but encouraging report on a possible treatment for COVID-19.

President Donald Trump urged supporters to “LIBERATE” three states led by Democratic governors Friday, apparently encouraging the growing protests against the stay-at-home restrictions aimed at stopping the coronavirus. A day after laying out a road map to gradually reopen the crippled economy, Trump took to Twitter with the kind of rhetoric some of his supporters have used in demanding the lifting of the orders that have thrown millions of Americans out of work. “LIBERATE MINNESOTA!” “LIBERATE MICHIGAN!” “LIBERATE VIRGINIA,” he said in a tweet-storm in which he also lashed out at New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for criticizing the federal response. Cuomo “should spend more time `doing’ and less time `complaining,’” the president said.

The United States is struggling to test enough people to track and control the spread of the novel coronavirus, a crucial first step to reopening parts of the economy, which President Donald Trump is pushing to do by May 1. Trump on Thursday released a plan to ease business restriction that hinges on a downward trajectory of positive tests. But more than a month after he declared, “Anybody who wants a test, can get a test,” the reality has been much different. People report being unable to get tested. Labs and public officials say critical supply shortages are making it impossible to increase testing to the levels experts say is necessary to keep the virus in check. “There are places that have enough test swabs, but not enough workers to administer them.

A study published in Forbes magazine analyzing the various steps implemented in countries around the world in the battle against the coronavirus ranked Israel as the safest country in the world during the COVID-19 era. Germany is in second place followed by South Korea, Australia, and China. Italy was ranked as the most dangerous country followed by the United States, United Kingdom, Spain and France. The Forbes study ranked 60 countries according to various factors such as safety, risk level, treatment efficiency and economic support for its citizens. Israel’s safety measures against the coronavirus were ranked as highly effective in slowing the rate of infections. However, it received a lower rating for the level of economic support the government provided its citizens.

Once again, running an amazing program after a first successful program! We are all in isolation, stuck in our homes, praying and hoping for better news, for this terrible virus to run its course, for an end to all the pain and suffering. In the meantime, there are so many questions. What can we do from the safety of our four walls? How can we reach out to our sisters and brothers, to let them know they are not alone? What can we do to hasten the end of this virus, to bring the Ultimate Redemption one step closer?

As frum physicians from varied communities, we warn the כלל of the dangers of rapid COVID-19 antibody/immunity tests being offered within our neighborhoods, both at homes and in medical offices. These tests have questionable accuracy and have not yet been properly tested. 1- FDA approved community-based rapid tests of immunity to COVID-19 are not yet available. (Reliable tests are in development.) 2- There are currently no rapid tests for COVID-19 that can accurately tell you whether or not you can still become infected or whether you can still infect others with COVID-19. 3- No social distancing decisions should be made on the basis of any currently offered rapid tests.

By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for 5TJT.com The world has crashed. Rabbi Nochum Dick, the long-time Chairman of the Board of Sinai Academy, has passed away a victim of the COVID-19 pandemic. Reb Nochum was a remarkable askan who was asked by Rav Elya Svei zt”l to take upon himself the ol of ensuring that Sinai Academy, run by Rabbi Katzin, remain a vibrant Yeshiva for Russian Jewry.  The Yeshiva succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest dreams – producing hundreds of Bnei Torah.  All of this would not have been possible without Reb Nochum’s efforts.  Rav Elya was his brother’s mechutan and he recognized the special qualities and characteristics of Reb Nochum.

Free PDF – Complete Guide to Hilchos Aveilus Based on Rulings of Rav Asher Weiss In light of the raging pandemic, The Layman’s Guide to the Laws of Mourning (Beta Version, PDF) has been made available to the public. The sefer, written by Rabbi Avraham Holzer, is the first of its kind, a clear and concise yet comprehensive guide to the laws of mourning, based on the rulings of Rav Asher Weiss Shlita (Minchas Asher). Updated for modern day occurences and practical situations, the sefer delineates the Halachos and the various situations that may arise, clearly and methodically. In today’s complex situation, organizations that normally supply such direly needed Seforim, have now been forced to suspend most of their operations so as not to endanger themselves and others.

A video showing two Arab nurses wrapping tefillin on a Chareidi elderly man ill with the coronavirus went viral in Israel. Channel 13 News interviewed one of the Arab nurses, with the host beginning the interview by telling the Arab that he seems very good at wrapping tefillin to which the Arab replied  “B’Ezras Hashem.” The Arab explained that he works in the isolation coronavirus ward at a Tel Aviv nursing home and one of the patients, a Chareidi man who is paralyzed on his left side asked the ward supervisor (also an Arab) to help him don tefillin. The Arab said that he and his supervisor looked at each other, wondering what to do about the strange request. The TV host interrupted the Arab saying: “[The patient] knew you were Arabs?