As the first alarms sounded in early January that an outbreak of a novel coronavirus in China might ignite a global pandemic, the Trump administration squandered nearly two months that could have been used to bolster the federal stockpile of critically needed medical supplies and equipment. A review of federal purchasing contracts by The Associated Press shows federal agencies largely waited until mid-March to begin placing bulk orders of N95 respirator masks, mechanical ventilators and other equipment needed by front-line health care workers. By that time, hospitals in several states were treating thousands of infected patients without adequate equipment and were pleading for shipments from the Strategic National Stockpile.

The Av Beis Din of the Eidah Charedis in Yerushalayim, Hagaon HaRav Yitzchok Tuvia Weiss was returned to his home for home isolation on Sunday. He left the hospital after his condition dramatically improved while receiving care at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital. He was hospitalized last week after having contracted Coronavirus. The GAVAD, who requires assistance to walk, was aided by a member of the Eidah who was also hospitalized in the same intensive care unit at the hospital. Rav Amram Shapira, who has also tested positive for having the virus, will be assisting Rav Weiss while he is in home quarantine. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Experts and health officials who are trying to plan a response to the coronavirus outbreak are missing a critical piece of information — the number of health care workers who have tested positive for the disease. Washington state faced the first major outbreak of COVID-19 in the nation, but health officials have not kept track of how many doctors and nurses have the disease. New York, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, also lacks infection figures for medical staff, according to Jill Montag, spokeswoman with the New York State Department of Health. That information can help save lives, said Dr. Grete Porteous, an anesthesiologist in Seattle who has worked on health care emergency preparedness and crisis management.

Please donate  package for a special ברכה from the Rebbe to shield yourself from the Coronavirus! CLICK HERE TO DONATE NOW Reb Yaakov’s family is pleading for you! He is hospitalized with COVID-19, while the wedding of his 9th son is planned for next month. This family is one of many that חסדי פנחס is taking care of. When this case was brought to the Rebbe he was heard saying “I will protect the donors!” CLICK HERE TO DONATE NOW Everyone knows the קמחא דפסחא ״חסדי פנחס״ in Bnei Brak of מוסדות ספינקא.Every year we have the Zchus of providing all the basic Pesach needs.This year too, though it will be a much greater distribution. The critical situation has came to the point where many of our usual donors are now the receivers, which means this time we need a special appeal.

Home testing for the new coronavirus may sound like a good idea, but U.S. regulators say it’s still too risky. They’ve stopped companies that quickly launched home-testing kits until they can show their products can accurately detect the virus. For now, the only way Americans can get tested is at hospitals, clinics or drive-thru sites, with a doctor’s order. After a botched rollout, testing in the U.S. has ramped up thanks to high-volume testing machines and new rapid tests. Last week, federal officials said total tests topped 1.4 million, and labs are processing nearly 100,000 tests daily. That’s the threshold many experts say is needed to track the virus. Still, testing continues to be constrained by shortages of medical supplies like gloves, masks and swabs.

Hagaon HaRav Tzvi Hirsh Meislish ZATZAL, the Av Beis Din of Shopron was Niftar on Sunday from COVID-19 at the age of 80. The Levaya is taking place on Sunday night on Hewes Street in Williamsburg. Hundreds of people showed up to the Levaya on Hewes Street, only to be met with a massive NYPD Level 1 Mobilization response. A police chopper was hovering overhead as police began trying to move people off the streets. This is the second Levaya on Sunday to be met with NYPD resistance. The first Levaya was for the Kozlover Rebbe at his Bais Medrash in Boro Park at 55th St and 12th Avenue. At that Levaya, multiple eye-wittiness tell YWN that the police requested that the crowd – 95% of whom were not wearing masks – maintain social distancing, who adamantly refused.

In the decade before Michigan and its largest city became the latest hot spot for the deadly coronavirus, officials were steadily, and at times dramatically, cutting back on their first line of defense against pandemics and other public health emergencies. Approaching bankruptcy, Detroit disbanded most of its public health department and handed its responsibilities to a private nonprofit. When the department reopened in 2014 in the back of the municipal parking office, its per capita budget was a fraction of other big cities’, to serve a needier population. In Ingham County, home to the capital city of Lansing, then-Public Health Director Renee Branch Canady sat down at budget time every year for seven straight years to figure out what more to cut.

I am awe struck by the medical professionals efforts and thank them daily and greatly. This letter is directed to the all other community members as the medical professionals work tirelessly. We need to sharpen our focus and act more to make it through the remaining weeks. I want to start off by addressing the concern regarding funerals. As a practicing LMSW, I was on the phone with a single mother whose daughter is immunocompromised. This mother, a traditional Jew stated fearfully to me that she saw many religious men gathered for a funeral in Brooklyn. I assured her that this choice to gather was the horrific opposite of Jewish values and that we are working as a community to take action to protect her daughter and others.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee said Sunday that the state will return more than 400 ventilators of the 500 it has received from the federal government so they can go to New York and other states hit harder by the coronavirus. The Democratic governor said Sunday his statewide stay-at-home order and weeks of social distancing have led to slower rates of infections and deaths in Washington. Sunday evening the state Department of Health said Washington had nearly 8,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 338 deaths. New York has more than 122,000 confirmed cases and more than 4,000 deaths. Washington received 500 ventilators last month from the Strategic National Stockpile. “I’ve said many times over the last few weeks: We are in this together,” Inslee said.

Dear Friends, We are writing with uplifting news, and with a request. You, together with 160,986 fellow Jewish men, women, and children, have acquired a letter in the Miracle Sefer Torah. This has been an unprecedented outpouring of soulful unity that the world sorely needs right now.   But the Jewish people need more, the world needs more. Every Jew that includes themselves in this sacred scroll is one more Jew tethered to his or her people. And as long as we do not invite every Jew to participate, our unity is incomplete. Click here to secure your letters So please do the kindness of inviting your friend, family member, or co-worker into this monumental project by sending them this link.