In Rockland County, 45 positive cases of coronavirus

Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky

Refuah Health Center in Rockland County Image by flickr
Rockland County officials released a statement tonight confirming a total of 45 positive cases of coronavirus in the New York county.
All those who had frequented the Ohr Chaim synagogue on March 8, the Church of Nyack on March 8, the L’Dor adult care facility on March 11 and March 13, and the Karlin Stolin Synagogue on March 11-13 are being asked to self-quarantine for 14 days.
This comes amid a rapid rise in cases in the Orthodox Jewish community, with hundreds of positive cases in Westchester County, Boro Park and Williamsburg — in a society that is largely defined by constant social gatherings, whether in daily prayer services, regular Torah study, mikvahs or lifecycle occasions, and a week after many communities held Purim festivities.
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
— Alyssa Katz, editor-in-chief
