The majority of the recent spike of coronavirus cases in Israel stem from a secular high school in Jerusalem, the Hebrew Gymnasium school in Rechavia, with the number of cases at the school rising to almost 200 as of Sunday. Media outlets also reported on Sunday on infections in three other secular Jerusalem high schools as well as one elementary school.
Furthermore, in Cholon, a 7th-grade student tested positive for the virus over the weekend. Four 7th grade classes – about 120 students – and 6 teachers were instructed to enter quarantine. In Be’er Sheva, at least 190 students and staff members from a local high school were instructed to enter quarantine after a parent of a student in the school was diagnosed with the virus.
The spike in virus cases have not spared Chareidi communities and Chareidi schools have also experienced new cases.
In the Sanhedria Murchevet neighborhood of Jerusalem, five new cases of the virus have been diagnosed among students and staff of the Chachmas Shlomo Talmud Torah, where a kindergarten assistant was diagnosed last week.
A news report on Sunday morning said that a kindergarten teacher in Bnei Brak was diagnosed with the virus, sending 17 children and nine staff members into quarantine. The teacher developed serious symptoms as a result of the virus and has been hospitalized.
Also in Bnei Brak, a student in Shiur Aleph of the Ponevezh yeshivah ketana tested positive for the virus. The yeshivah had divided the students in different areas so only the bochurim in the affected area have to enter quarantine.
Eight bochurim in the Ma’ayanei H’Chachmah yeshivah high school in Telzstone have been diagnosed with the coronavirus since Thursday when the Telzstone municipality announced that one student in the yeshivah was diagnosed with the virus. Several other bochurim are experiencing symptoms of the virus and are awaiting the results of their coronavirus tests.
The yeshivah bochurim, ages 16-17, none of whom are residents of Telzstone, had been divided into several groups according to the “capsule” plan and none of them left the yeshivah since they arrived. The Telzstone municipality, which has already battled and won a major virus outbreak in the city, is hopeful that the infection did not spread beyond the yeshivah.
The Telzstone municipality, in cooperation with the health ministry and the Home Front Command, made a decision on Sunday morning to transfer the remaining bochurim to a coronavirus hotel in northern Israel.
In Modiin Ilit, a 2nd grader in one of the main Talmudei Torah in the city, Darchei Yosher Talmud Torah in Brachfeld, was confirmed positive for the virus on erev Shavuos, forcing his classmates and rabbeim into quarantine right before Yom Tov.
The 4th grade and 6th grades in the Talmud Torah did not resume classes on Sunday since the diagnosed child has brothers in those classes.
The parents of the dozens of boys in the 2nd grade of the Talmud Torah have all received referrals for coronavirus tests at their kupat cholim.
As a result of the spike in cases, one of the largest Chareidi high school for girls, Bnos Elisheva, which was scheduled to resume classes on Sunday, announced that the school will not be reopening.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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2 Responses
Of course things have deteriorated! Schools and shuls opened way too early. Nobody enforces the masks rule. The shuls demand it then ignore violators. I was in Maafeh Ne’eman last week… I was the only person wearing a mask. The people working there weren’t even wearing gloves, but they (& everyone else) were picking up products with their hands. No I did not buy them!
As soon as some restrictions were lifted, people threw off all the standards. At this point in time, you won’t get sick from us, we wear masks, gloves & sanitize and wash our hands frequently. But WE might die because you are infected. But who cares, the ones who should take note aren’t interested in following the law. Social hedonists!
Are you suggesting that the Hareidim are breathing the same air as the secular elites? The would imply that “social distancing” is a dubious concept, since if it was valid, you wouldn’t find diseases spreading between social groups that always keep a tremendous distance from each other.