At the end of a week officials had warned would be this generation’s Pearl Harbor, White House officials pointed to hopeful signs that the spread of the coronavirus could be slowing, even as President Donald Trump insisted he would not move to reopen the country until it is safe. At the same time, Trump said he would be announcing the launch of what he dubbed the “Opening our Country” task force, next Tuesday to work toward that goal.

Govs. Larry Hogan of Maryland and Andrew Cuomo of New York issued a bipartisan call Saturday for an additional $500 billion in federal aid for U.S. states and territories dealing with the coronavirus. Hogan, a Republican, is chairman of the National Governors Association and Cuomo, a Democrat, is the vice chair.

Unable to strike a deal alone, the Trump administration and congressional leaders appear poised to launch new bipartisan talks on a fresh coronavirus aid package with hopes for action as soon as next week. Top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer said he spoke Friday to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, and the Trump administration has agreed to pursue bipartisan House-Senate negotiations to replenish a $350 billion “paycheck protection” program for businesses that’s being depleted. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in a separate call with Mnuchin recommended the joint talks so Congress “can move expeditiously” past the logjam. “We’ll have to do that again at some point,” acknowledged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell after this week’s failed votes.

The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus eclipsed Italy’s for the highest in the world Saturday at about 20,000, as Chicago and other cities across the Midwest braced for a potential surge in victims and moved to snuff out smoldering hot spots of contagion before they erupt. With the New York area still deep in crisis, fear mounted over the spread of the scourge into the nation’s heartland. Twenty-four residents of an Indiana nursing home hit by COVID-19 have died, while a nursing home in Iowa saw 14 deaths. Chicago’s Cook County has set up a temporary morgue that can take more than 2,000 bodies.

Beyond Tragic We are appealing to you on behalf of the suddenly orphaned Halbrecht family. The situation is beyond tragic and heartrending. Eliezer Halbrecht, age 33, passed away. His wife, age 32, was left alone with 7 children, the 2 youngest only 8-month-old twin boys. CLICK HERE TO DONATE NOW! They are left now alone. CLICK HERE TO DONATE NOW! We can’t return their father, but we must step in as breadwinner so she can feed her orphaned family. Eliezer, a Kollel yungerman, was always happy with his lot. A few months ago, he took on side jobs, so his wife could give up her job as playgroup assistant and devote her all to the young twins and the other little 5. We need you to step in now to save this family from falling apart! CLICK HERE TO DONATE NOW!

YWN regrets to inform you of the Petira of Mr Stanley Chera Z”L, one of the most prominent members of the Sephardic Syrian communities in Brooklyn and Deal NJ. He was 78. The Niftar had been diagnosed with COVID-19 and hospitalized in critical condition at Cornell Hospital. He was Niftar on Shabbos. He was a close friend of President Trump, who talked about him all the time in speeches. Further information will be published when available. Boruch Dayan HaEmmes… (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

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By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for the Five Towns Jewish Times “Hey, I thought you are keeping the first Zman.” “I am.” “So, you can’t listen to that – if you are keeping the first Zman.” “What?  It’s Yom Tov! You are not allowed to visibly mourn on Yom Tov.  So, I can listen to it.” “Why is that visibly mourning? – Just don’t listen.” The above conversation has taken place hundreds of times in cities throughout the world.   Now during the Corona Shut-in it is less, but we must still ask: What is actually the halacha? The Shulchan Aruch discusses some of the customs of Sefirah in Orech Chaim 493:1.  There, however, he only discusses the issues of getting married and of getting haircuts.  The Mogain Avrohom, however, discusses music and dancing.

Mazel Dalel, 53, a Beit Shemesh mother of 9 with no preexisting medical conditions passed away from the coronavirus on Shabbos. Dalel, a resident of the Kiryah HaChareidit in Beit Shemesh was hospitalized in Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem after contracting the coronavirus. The hospital stated that “she was attached to a ventilator and sedated for over a week in serious condition. Her condition quickly deteriorated and she passed away on Shabbos. We share in the sorrow of the family.” The nifteres left behind her husband R’ Yoel Dalel and nine children. “It’s an unfathomable tragedy,” one of Dalel’s neighbors told Kikar H’Shabbos. “She left behind nine young orphans and her husband, one of the chashuve avreichim in the city, Rav Yoel.

There are a total of 10,743 confirmed coronavirus cases in Israel as of Motzei Shabbos, of whom 175 are in serious condition with 129 on ventilators. A total of 101 Israelis have passed away from the coronavirus and 1,341 patients have recovered. Twelve of the fatalities were from the Mishan nursing home in Be’er Sheva, another four were from the Migdal Nofim nursing home in Jerusalem, and on Thursday night, two women who were residents of the Ma’on Horim nursing home in the Sanhedria neighborhood of Jerusalem passed away.