Temporary funding through the Prevention, Retention, and Contingency (PRC) program will allow Cuyahoga Job and Family Services (CJFS) to provide emergency assistance to eligible families through a PRC voucher. While limited funding is available, COVID-19 PRC vouchers will provide assistance with additional food assistance, select essential supplies, and housing costs.

Please click below for additional details.

PRC Covid-19 Emergency Relief Program

• Changes in income should still be submitted. No negative action will be taken at this time.

At a press conference on April 16th, Governor Mike DeWine stated that Ohio will start easing restrictions on closed business starting May 1st. He cautioned, however, that what we’re used to an “open” business looking like will not remain the same. Some of the restrictions and safeguards you’re currently seeing at business that haven’t closed–such as social distancing, limits on the number of customers shopping at once, masking, gloving, and more–will be necessary for this new normal.

Excerpt from Cleveland Jewish News:

Even when businesses start to reopen, life will not look the same as it did before. The businesses deemed essential that have stayed open have put together stringent measures to keep their employees and customers safe.

The advisory board put together preventative measures such as regular checks of PPE stock and supply, a limit on visitors into the business, screening upon entry and clear guidelines on hygiene.

Full article at https://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/news/local_news/8-414-covid-19-cases-in-ohio-1-331-in-cuyahoga-county/article_1caf54cc-800b-11ea-89ae-c711750e30e5.html

Spring is not cancelled! Our fruit trees have started to bloom.

All are welcome to 3654 Shannon.

We have 2 signs with Beracha posted separate from each other so people can maintain distance.

From Dr. Mendel Singer PhD MPH

Based on success in other countries, the CDC is now recommending that people wear cloth face coverings when out in public and social distancing can’t be maintained, e.g. grocery stores and
pharmacies. I would add Jewish stores as well. The reason is that as cases mount in an area (as they are in many Jewish communities), there are many people who are infected but don’t know it. Some may have no symptoms at all, but might still be able to spread the virus by coughing, sneezing, or even talking from a close distance. By wearing a cloth mask you may be protecting others, and if others are wearing them too, they will protect you. Kol Yisroel areivim zeh b’zeh! And wearing gloves may protect both you and others.

DO NOT WEAR SURGICAL MASKS OR N95 RESPIRATORS – leave them for the professionals who desperately need them.

THEY ARE EASY TO MAKE! They can be made with or without sewing! For example, a t-shirt and scissors is all you need! Or a bandana and a coffee filter! Instructions here: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/diy-cloth-face-coverings.html (Consult your Rav about the permissibility of making these during Chol HaMoed)

Spring is not cancelled! Our fruit trees have started to bloom.

All are welcome to 3654 Shannon.

We have 2 signs with Beracha posted separate from each other so people can maintain distance.

by Mendel Singer, PhD, MPH (Master of Public Health)

The consensus is remarkably broad: Rabbinical experts, leading physicians, the CDC and Hatzolos. They all agree. People should not be traveling for Pesach. People from the hard hit NY/NJ/CT area especially should not be traveling and shouldn’t be leaving home except for the true necessities. In Lakewood, Rabbinic and medical leaders are telling people not to get together for Pesach – even within Lakewood! This is very hard to do. New chossonim and kallos will be making Pesach by themselves. Families will be apart. It will be hard logistically and emotionally. It may mean using kulos you normally wouldn’t rely on. But is it really necessary? But my (fill in the blank) can’t make Pesach. Can’t? There are some cases where this is literally true. But we need to
ask ourselves – what if being together for Pesach causes, chas v’shalom, a tragedy? Hashem would know. Your family would know. Certain friends and neighbors would know. But most importantly, you would know. How would you live with yourself? After all the experts said not to do it.

We are hearing of terrible tragedies, not just sick elderly, but some healthy frum people in their 30’s and 40’s who have died. About 1/3 of cases are age 20-44, and about 1 in 5 of the hospitalization. This is all too real. Who is at risk? All adults are at risk. Some are at greater risk of death than others. How many will get infected? We are expecting several hundred thousand cases in Ohio alone. How many will die? Way too many.

But we can be very careful in the house! We can clean constantly! When a person with COVID-19 coughs, droplets travel up to 6 feet – and onto surfaces. On metal, it survives for about 2 days. And people touch things! And then they touch their face – about every 3-5 minutes, though they aren’t aware of it. If an infected individual is in the house, before they even know they have the infection, they will be leaving the virus around the house. If someone is isolated in the house, they will have touched things first before reaching their area of isolation. Someone else will interact with that person. It is very hard to contain. There are many large families where all members got the infection.

What if the visitors and the local family just all self-quarantine for 14 days? But it may be much, much longer than 14 days. During those 14 days, if someone gets infected, you now have 14 days from then. That could repeat again for each person in the house getting infected. 14 days could easily turn into a month. And what happens if you have trouble with your refrigerator/oven/plumbing around/during Pesach? How do you get it fixed?

What we don’t know can kill. How many people are infected but show no symptoms? We can’t know until we have capacity to do population testing. Can these people without symptoms transmit the infection – yes, but we don’t know how common that is. How many children are infected without symptoms and able to transmit? We don’t know. Does recovering from the virus mean you’re immune? Most likely, but we don’t know for how long. It certainly isn’t expected to be lifelong immunity. Will immunity last until the end of this outbreak, including potential second wave in the fall? We don’t know. We know some people have tested positive within a month after recovering and having tested negative, though the cases we know about haven’t had symptoms. Can they transmit? We don’t know. But we are literally learning more every day.

But maybe we will all end up getting it eventually anyway? The extreme measures we are adopting is intended not only to minimize the number of cases, but to “flatten the curve” – minimize the number of cases at any one time so we don’t overwhelm our hospitals and intensive care units. This is a real concern. In NY, Gov. Cuomo is talking about a huge shortage of ventilators in the next 2 weeks. Many other states are not far behind. Our local hospitals are very concerned. But that isn’t the only reason to try and delay cases. It won’t be that long before we know much more about the effectiveness of several promising treatments that are being tested now. Delaying cases may mean pushing cases to a time when it can be treated successfully. The stay home measures are critical to saving lives – perhaps someone you love, or even you. A vaccine is a long way off. Several have just started testing, but to know that they work and to mass produce it – probably 8 to 12 months. Meanwhile, social distancing, stay home and various other measures are our primary means of saving lives. That and washing our hands very well and often. 20 seconds, with soap.

In Lakewood they sell “Pesach meals in a box” – all 10 Yom Tov meals for a family of 5 for $349. Where there is need, people step in. Videos are posted teaching how to make Pesach at home. We can do this.

But there’s another way to look at this – a more positive way. We have a very great opportunity. By not getting together with others, by not traveling for Pesach, we can be oisek in the mitzvah of pikuach nefesh! I have confirmed this with HaRav Boruch Hirschfeld, Shlita. How many of us have dreamed of having the chance to save a life, to fulfill the mitzvah of pikuach nefesh? This is your chance. The people who do this mitzvah daily are begging you. And many have changed their plans. Yasher koach to them all!

As a professor who does public and population health, I am speaking out. My colleagues and many former students of mine are working day and night at the Cuyahoga County Board of Health or at/with the hospitals, or other community health organizations. As someone who suffers from an immune system disorder, I can’t be on the front lines with them. I am at home. Like most of us should be.

Stay Home, Save Lives. Pikuach nefesh is literally within your grasp.

Mendel Singer, PhD MPH
Associate Professor and Vice Chair for Education
Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine

An open letter to the Cleveland community,

What I have been seeing daily on the front lines in the Emergency Department astounds me. What I see on the streets of our community horrifies me.

I have started to see more and more out of state license plates gracing our home city. Maybe I am misjudging, but my suspicion is that there are people coming from the New York and New Jersey area for Yom Tov.

Why? Because we can’t make a Yom Tov ourselves? Because our family is pushing us? Because we think we are above the rules? The rules of law and nature?

The coronavius is not particular in whom it infects. You may have it and not know it. The cold you had last week may, or may not, have been it. Devastating effects are seen not just in the elderly and otherwise sick, but in regular people, just like “me”. And for all the numbers of people that have died of the disease that it causes, COVID-19, there is an equal number that have a high chance of being ventilator dependent. Their numbers don’t get factored into the death toll published daily by the Ohio Department of Health, but their numbers are rising exponentially.

Do you think you are more important than your neighbor, your parents, your children? Do you think you are smarter than the rabbanim who have essentially forbidden coming or having family over for Yom Tov? Are you smarter than the medical doctors, epidemiologists and military personnel who do this professionally? Come on people. Think of someone else if not yourself. Stay home. Ma’aras ayin is real and so are the numbers.

Stay home, so I can go to work and take care of those who can’t care for themselves.

I just received a phone call from the manager of a store in the Cedar Green district. He is seeing people from New York and New Jersey coming into his store. He knows they are from there because he has spoken with them on their past visits, and when they order things and leave a New York or New Jersey phone number, or when he helps carry things out to their car and they have New York and New Jersey tags, he knows that these folks are here from out of town. He asked me what I could do about it.

Last week I issued an announcement strongly encouraging people to not host company from out of town at this time especially from these states, and asking for voluntary compliance. I’m disappointed that people are not looking out for everyone’s interest. This is a public health emergency, and we must all take it seriously. Anybody who is now here from New York or New Jersey should immediately self quarantine for 14 days, together with whomever is hosting them. And part of self quarantining is not going into our stores.

I know this is a difficult time emotionally because this is a time of year that we normally spend with our family, and the holidays have great significance. That is all the more reason why we must be vigilant about staying safe. So that we can celebrate the next holiday and the holiday after that and all the ones after those.

Dear Residents,

Thank you for all the steps you have been taking to keep healthy and minimize the spread of the COVID 19 virus. Staying at home as much as possible, per the Governor’s order, and keeping six feet distance between non-family members, will make a difference to your health, as well to the health of others in our community.

Today I am requesting another precaution to help contain the spread of the COVID 19 virus in Cleveland Heights. Starting immediately, I am asking each resident if you have any visitors coming in from states that have been hard hit by the virus, such as NY, NJ and FL, or if you’ve traveled or recently hosted guests within the last fourteen days, I am asking you to voluntarily self-quarantine for 14 days.

New York, New Jersey and Florida have been some of the states hit hardest by this dangerous virus. Other states that I am also concerned about are CA, IL, LA, MA, MI, PA and WA. I’d like to ask for the same voluntary 14 day quarantine for you, any family members that may have been present, and for those individuals traveling here from those states.

Staying at home, socially distancing, regular hand-washing are just a few important steps we must take to eliminate this virus. Using good judgement, and also self-quarantining when you may have come into contact with higher-risk people are also critical components in keeping healthy.

Remember, you can go out and enjoy our beautiful parks and walking/biking paths, but you must keep six feet distance from non-family members. Take a walk, walk your dog, work in your gardens and enjoy the nicer days we’ve been experiencing. Please stay off the playground equipment as it is not sanitized, and our basketball and tennis courts are closed for the time being.

Beachwood and University Heights have issued similar requests. If we all work together we can minimize our own risk of exposure and the overall health and safety of our families and our community.

I thank you in advance for your cooperation. I wish you good health.

Mayor Jason Stein

Sign up at https://forms.gle/432f2W3U6aGrbBoL8

Order commences 11:59pm Monday. Details to follow.

5-7pm Monday at Lee Road Library.

From Cleveland Patch:

The Heights Libraries will be holding a drive-thru produce pantry on Monday. Guests will not need to leave their car for any reason during the pick-up process.

Full article link: https://patch.com/ohio/clevelandheights/drive-thru-produce-pantry-be-held-monday-heights-libraries

At 10:11pm, Governor Mike DeWine announced that the Director of the Ohio Department of Health, Dr. Amy Acton, has ordered the polls closed tomorrow as a health emergency.

Stay tuned for any updates.

Printable PDF version of this graphic

Scholastic says the site will remain free and open indefinitely. Full article at https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/scholastic-learning-website-coronavirus-closures/95-54c8eac3-b8be-4fe5-be5b-acd6ca8447e1.

Scholastic’s website is https://classroommagazines.scholastic.com/support/learnathome.html

Update

Yeshiva Derech HaTorah has announced closure after school Monday.

Update 5:40pm

Hebrew Academy has announced closure after school Monday through Pesach.

Update 4:45pm

Chaviva High School has announced closure after school Monday.

Update 4:35pm

Excerpt from Cleveland.com:

Ohio K-12 schools will be closed from 3:30 p.m. Monday through at least April 3, DeWine said. The order applies to public, private and charter schools.

Full article at https://www.cleveland.com/news/2020/03/ohio-gov-dewine-announces-3-week-spring-break-for-ohio-schools-to-control-coronavirus.html.

The announcement was made Thursday afternoon after Fuchs Mizrachi School had already announced Wednesday they would be closed out of an abundance of caution. As of Thursday afternoon–though seemingly prior to the Governor’s announcement–Hebrew Academy and Chaviva High School remained open per school communications.

Reprinted in full with permission from Dr. Freedman’s blog at mymdmiami.com/coronavirus/

Written by:
Robert A. Freedman, M.D.
Board Certified Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases
Chief of Infectious Diseases Miami Jewish Health Systems
Chief of Infectious Diseases Kindred Hospitals of South Florida
info@mymd.us (Questions submitted will potentially be answered in future articles/updates)

—
As an Infectious Disease specialist in the community, who has been fielding phone calls over the past two weeks about the coronavirus from hospital administrators, nursing homes, schools, synagogues, businesses, and patients, it is clear there is a lot of misinformation and fear about this disease. I am therefore putting out a statement to try and answer many of the questions I have received, hopefully to provide guidance to our communities, and allay some fears.

Before discussing the history, details and implications about the virus, I want to emphasize one important key fact: at this point, we must practice social distancing. We cannot wait for an index case, because by the time the index case is known, the disease has mushroomed throughout the community.

Coronaviruses have been around for a long time. The majority of them cause a syndrome like the common cold. In the past two decades we have experienced two new novel coronaviruses, and now a third one. All three have originated in China from an animal food market (i.e. animal to human transmission). The first was SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) in 2002 to 2003, MERS (Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome) in 2012, and now COVID 19, specifically from an animal and seafood food market in Wuhan, China. These three new viruses can cause a severe pneumonia and sometimes death. SARS killed 770 people out of 8,000 infected, and MERS killed 3 or 4 out of every 10 people infected, according to the CDC. Unfortunately, because COVID19 is a novel/new virus, we have little information on its epidemiology (how it’s transmitted), and have no antiviral therapy or vaccines at this time. Therefore, the majority of my statements will be based on current knowledge that has been acquired over the past few months. As we have more experience with this virus, some of the information and beliefs about contagion, transmission, incubation, and mortality that I am going to discuss, may change.

COVID19 as of Wednesday 3/11/20 has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. This essentially means it has spread worldwide. Transmission is believed to be from respiratory droplets from people coughing or sneezing which are inhaled by another person or “hand to mouth”. If you shake somebody’s hand or touch a surface that has the coronavirus, and then you touch your mouth, nose, or eyes, you can contract the virus. You are essentially placing the virus onto one of your mucosal surfaces (mouth, nose, or eyes). This is why you hear all the recommendations about repeatedly washing your hands or using hand sanitizer. People would be surprised how many times they touch their mouth, nose, or eyes throughout the day. This is also why they recommend not shaking hands. The most recent data suggests that respiratory droplets carrying coronavirus can remain in the air for up to three hours, which would increase the contagion. They can also stay alive on surfaces such as plastic and stainless steel for up to 3 days, copper surfaces for 4 hours, and cardboard for up to 24 hours. There is also some data that suggests if it is like SARS and MERS, it could remain on metal, glass, or plastic for up to 9 days. In contrast, our knowledge of flu/influenza reveals that it can only remain on surfaces for 48 hours. In a study published in the Journal of Hospital Infection, it was suggested that Coronaviruses could be effectively inactivated by disinfectants that contain 60-71% ethanol, 0.5% hydrogen peroxide, or 0.1% sodium hypochlorite within 1 minute.

The current incubation period is believed to be between 5 to 14 days. This is why people are being quarantined for up to 14 days.  Additional concerns with respect to transmission are that it appears people can be contagious prior to developing any symptoms. This is very dangerous, since if someone is well, the individual and his contacts assume that he or she is not contagious. This contributes to the rapid spread we have been seeing. While we are still acquiring more information about transmission, there is some data that suggests that once the patient resolves from their infection, they’ve still been able to isolate the virus from their secretions up to 50 days!

Although the illness can infect anyone, it appears that the disease and its complications are more severe in the elderly and people with immune compromised conditions. Young people seem to fare well with the illness and recover. With respect to disease course, in approximately 80% of the patients the symptoms are slightly milder than the flu, that is: runny nose, sore throat, cough and fever. In severe cases, people can have difficulty breathing. 20% of the patients will develop complications such as Covid 19 pneumonia, and 15% of those will die. As stated above, this mortality is more in the elderly and people with pre-existing immune compromised conditions.

Although the current mortality rate is quoted as 3.4% when compared to the flu which has a 0.1% mortality, I personally believe that the mortality rate from this disease is much less than 3.4%. This is because a majority of patients have a mild illness similar to a cold or mild flu, and they do not come to clinical recognition, that is, they never see a doctor. Mortality rates are calculated based on putting the number of deaths in the numerator and the number of people with the illness in the denominator. Since a large proportion of people are not reporting their illness, because they’re not very sick, the denominator is actually much larger than the current data suggests, which would bring the mortality rate down significantly. I believe as we get more experience with this virus, and have more testing, we will see a fall in the mortality rate.

The classic teaching in Infectious Diseases is to isolate contagious diseases. This is why, travel has been restricted, schools have gone to virtual classrooms, parks and museums have closed, and the NBA has cancelled the season, etc. Social distancing is extremely important. We need to isolate this virus and let it “burn out” within each community, not allowing anyone else in who could carry the virus back into the community. Unfortunately, these decisions are extremely costly, which has delayed the decision to practice social distancing. As leaders however, we have a higher responsibility, not just to ourselves, but to the entire community, and I believe these tough decisions need to be made. This is classical Infectious Disease principles, and if they are adhered to properly and in a timely manner, we will be able to stop the spread. Waiting for an index case to occur in the community before we start practicing social distancing is very dangerous. By the time the patient is diagnosed, they’ve had contact with multiple people, those people have had contact with multiple people, and the disease has already mushroomed and spread throughout the community. Therefore, one should not wait for an index case. There are currently no recommended/approved antivirals (medications) to treat this illness, nor is there a vaccine at present. But we are currently studying some antivirals that may have some promise, and are trying to develop a vaccine as well.

I want to ensure the community that the United States of America has the best healthcare system in the world. We have an infrastructure that is unparalleled. There is a Department of Health in every major city in the United States. We have the CDC, and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, headed by one of the most prominent physicians in the world, Dr. Anthony Fauci. By following the recommended principles and guidelines, we will be able to stem the tide of this pandemic.

I hope this has been informative and educational, and that I have answered some of your questions and concerns.

Excerpt: News has been rippling through the Jewish communities in greater Cleveland as people celebrate Purim, a festive holiday commemorating the salvation of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire.

Full article at https://www.cleveland19.com/2020/03/10/members-cleveland-jewish-community-address-coronavirus-after-jewish-education-center-staffer-tests-positive/

Excerpt:

Cuyahoga County Board of Health Commissioner Terry Allan said the three patients, who are ages 54 to 56, are isolated. Two of them were on a trip to Egypt and one was at a conference in Washington D.C. Six additional people who had close contact are also on home quarantine.

There are five people under investigation for the virus, the Ohio Department of Health said. Health Director Dr. Amy Acton said you will be notified if you’ve had contact with an infected person.

Full article at https://fox8.com/news/coronavirus/three-ohioans-test-positive-for-coronavirus/

A Cuyahoga County man who tested positive for the coronavirus is employed by the Jewish Education Center of Cleveland.

“We can confirm that a Jewish Education Center staff person has tested positive for the coronavirus. This individual is now quarantined,” the Jewish Federation of Cleveland said in a statement to the Cleveland Jewish News March 9. The JEC is a partner agency of the Federation.

The individual attended the American Israel Public Affairs Committee Policy Conference from March 1 through March 3 in Washington, D.C.

Full article at Cleveland Jewish News: https://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/news/local_news/jec-staff-member-confirmed-positive-for-covid/article_72f0a992-625d-11ea-99a8-83cdb84ca1b2.html