As many as 100 shiva attendees exposed to coronavirus in Maryland
Image by koto_feja/iStock
By Helen Chernikoff March 8, 2020
One of three residents of Montgomery County, Md. who contracted the coronavirus on a cruise in Egypt attended a Jewish mourning ritual at a retirement community before before getting diagnosed with the disease and exposed between 70 and 100 attendees to it.
In the ritual, known as sitting shiva, family members of the deceased receive condolence calls from family and friends. All three of the cruise passengers had flu-like symptoms on their return from the trip, but at that time the CDC was recommending tests only for people who had been traveling in China, according to the Washington Post. One of them paid a “shiva call” on Feb. 28 at The Village in Rockville, which is in Montgomery County.
The grandson of the man who died said between 70 and 100 people sat shiva with them that day. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said the interactions were “concerning” and that anyone who was at the event should watch for symptoms.
Contact Helen Chernikoff is The Forward’s senior news editor. Contact her at chernikoff@forward.com or follower her on Twitter @thesimplechild
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
