Mexico, like many Latin-American countries, has been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis, with currently the seventh-highest amount of coronavirus cases in the world, a total of 338,913 cases, and 38,888 fatalities.
Mexico’s President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has downplayed the dangers of the pandemic, stressing the need for the economy to remain open. The country also has one of the lowest testing rates in the world, which means the true number of cases and deaths are far higher than recorded.
Amidst the raging pandemic, the Jewish community in Mexico has done remarkably well, with over 600 Jews diagnosed with the virus and 10 fatalities, all of them elderly, due to implementing its own independent community lockdown, B’Chadrei Chareidim reported.
Since the first Jew in Mexico tested positive for the virus the day after Purim, all shuls and Jewish institutions have been closed.
The Jewish community, which numbers around 50,000 Jews, is united by the Central Va’ad of the Jewish community in Mexico, which is also the organization that is overseeing the response to the coronavirus crisis in the community. It operates a special digital platform that publicizes transparent coronavirus data and other relevant information.
Harav Davidson, one of the heads of the kehilla, told the Hebrew Yated Ne’eman about the warning system on the community’s digital information dashboard. “The warning system informs the community of the situation on the street. Unfortunately, the official data publicized to the public does not accurately reflect the true situation. We’re still warning community members not to be out on the streets.”
“The shuls are still closed and we don’t even have minyanim. We protect ourselves and b’chasdei Shamayim we see that our independent lockdown has protected us from the horrible pandemic raging on the streets of Mexico.”
The Va’ad also arranged a digital educational platform for all Jewish schools that was approved by Harav Shmuel Kamenetsky, Nasi of Mexico’s Jewish educational system.
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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One Response
Mexico’s President, a leftist, is proving that stupidity is not limited to one end of the political spectrum. His statements have been almost as bad as Trump’s. And Mexico is stuck with him until 2024.