The city Health Department said Thursday it will shut non-essential businesses and limit gatherings in the city’s coronavirus hot spots if cases continue to rise in the areas, The NY Post reported.
The reopening rollbacks could hit nine “cluster” sites where virus cases have ticked up, including a large swath of southern Brooklyn and Williamsburg — as well as Kew Gardens and Edgemere-Far Rockaway in Queens.
The Health Department will ramp up inspections in the areas to assure mask compliance and social distancing practices, the department said in a press release.
The measures could come as early as Tuesday. If cases continue to rise, the city will consider banning all gatherings of more than 10 people; issuing fines to those refusing to wear a mask when offered; closing private schools and care centers; and shutting down non-essential businesses.
In Brooklyn, the outbreak has hit predominantly Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods. One hot spot, known as the “Ocean Parkway cluster,” includes Midwood, Borough Park and Bensonhurst.
Case increases in that cluster have also been accompanied by a jump in positive tests from Williamsburg, another major hub of Orthodox life.
Please keep in mind these statistics are real. Baruch Hashem Crown Heights is not on the list yet but we need to do our part as kol yisrael areivem ze la ze to stay off this list. Very simple, wear a mask in public and especially to SHUL. Do it for your family, friends and neighbors. We must go out of our way to prevent Covid in our community to slow the spread and to keep schools open. Our children need to be in shul but if we as adults do not do our part to stem the spread, we… Read more »
If only it were true. But as seen in places with extremely strict lockdown and mask enforcement the virus doesn’t care. Like Israel and Canada and Australia. The only effective solution so far has been the hydroxy and zinc treatment at the first sign of symptoms in high risk patients. And when that is implemented the lockdowns and masks for healthy people become unnecessary. As seen in third world countries such as Haiti and others with widespread use of hydroxy for malaria
Why is school non essential?!?!?
It sure is! And kids suffered terribly through the months of lockdown. And for what? The flu has more risk to them than this virus. The virus behaves somewhat like the flu in that it will mutate every year and spikes in the fall. So how to deal with it? Masks/lockdowns are no long term game plan or solution. They were meant originally as a stop gap measure not to overwhelm the hospitals. Vaccines won’t work because the virus changes strains each year.
Ok last year, I get, but we aren’t going to agree to stop teaching children Torah indefinitely.
Last year, we all kept paying tuition because we understood the matter and wanted to keep supporting the invaluable teachers, but this year it won’t be so simple.
Classes will pool tuition and pay the teachers directly and arrange for them alternative schooling in alternative locations.
If we did it under the Greeks and under Communists Y’S, then we will certainly do it in the USA.
Dear fellow CH residents, Why do we trust our doctors with life and death decisions when CH’V our family members are facing a serious health crisis? We call Dr. Rosen (and our other community doctors) any hour of the day or night to ask him what to do. AND WE LISTEN to him because we understand that he is doing his best to give us the best possible outcome. He and our other doctors are OUR “Rofim Yedidim”. They are giving us their best advice. Let’s listen to them just like we listen when they tell us to do this… Read more »
Halevai the doctors had the freedom to give their independent medical opinion! As of now, which I confirmed with a doctor, they are being threatened with fines or worse if they challenge the department of health’s outrageous decisions. The doctors must be really careful now if they don’t want to lose their license. And the department of health has no one holding them accountable for their overreach of power.
Of course everyone should wear a mask to keep themselves and those around them safe. Those who feel symptoms should stay home and quarantine, but should not get tested. If you get tested all you are doing is making it easier for the government to see that the frum areas are the ones that have covid and they will shut schools and businesses down again. So instead, stay home and stop the spread, but don’t get tested.
There is some sense in what you are saying but your conclusion is absolutely and very dangerously incorrect.
The more we know about this illness the more it becomes clear that it is best and most efficaciously treated very early.
Without a test it will be very hard to get the appropriate treatment early.
Young people should not get tested
Shouldn’t the treatment start before severe symptoms set in? Which means before the test results show up? If so, why the need for testing?
There are no upticks in other areas? Only predominantly Orthodox Jewish ones?
Seems a little fishy to me…..
Well, its just Debasio being his usual self, no surprises here
I would hazard that we are voluntarily getting tested at a higher rate, because we’ve seen deaths that are close to us in heart and mind and we know that we will be in close proximity with others and don’t want to hurt anybody.
I personally felt a cold possibly coming on and got tested (negative B”H) and I know a couple of others who did the same.
Anyway to test privately without reporting it to the city?
Maybe the Jewish communities can bypass the city/state tyrants and work directly with the feds to get mobile and faster testing units for our community?