Oholei Torah Cancels School for One Class Due to Coronavirus Exposure

By COLlive reporter

Oholei Torah School for boys in Crown Heights has canceled school for one class due to the coronavirus outbreak.

In a letter to parents emailed early Thursday morning, the school’s principals said that the school’s third-grade class Gimmel-Daled, taught by Rabbi Shpeigelman and Rabbi Zaltzman, has been canceled until Monday.

“As a Yeshiva, we are committed to doing whatever it takes to ensure the safety and health of our Talmidim and their families,” the school wrote.

“This decision has been made strictly as an ABUNDANCE OF CAUTION as there may have been a potential of exposure to someone in this class on March 1.”

They noted that this decision has been made with the guidance of professionals.

The rest of Yeshivah will continue as usual.

“If your son displays any symptoms of the virus, please keep him home from school and consult with your child’s pediatrician,” they said.

The school, which is the largest Chabad boys school in Crown Heights, has over 1,800 students from preschool through Zal on 3 campuses.

The announcement comes as some Orthodox Jewish schools in Brooklyn have been canceling school due to the threat of coronavirus.

The US now has 1,267 cases of the coronavirus, and New York state has 216 confirmed coronavirus cases, the second-highest number of any state, including one case in Maimonides Hospital in Boro Park.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday he will ask business owners to stagger their employees’ work shifts or let them work from home to reduce potential coronavirus exposures.

“I’m going to ask them voluntarily to do telecommuting, two shifts, a morning shift and a late shift, and let people work from home voluntarily,” Cuomo said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”