Search
Close this search box.

Infection Rate In Chareidi Areas Has Soared, British Variant Spreading Among Small Children


Health Ministry data on Tuesday illustrates a frightening reality of the infection rate in the Chareidi sector in Israel, with infections at a record high, and the positivity rate in the sector at 19.5%, as compared to 7.7% in the general sector.

The highest infection in the country rate is in Beitar Illit, with a 25.80% positivity rate, and Modiin Illit, with a 17.69 positivity rate, followed by Elad, Telzstone, Bnei Brak and Rechasim.

A senior health official told Kikar H’Shabbos on Tuesday that “the British variant is spreading at a dizzying rate. We’re at the height of a wave worse than the first and second waves. We see this in the number of seriously ill patients and fatalities. Just this past Motzei Shabbos, two young mothers passed away after falling ill with the coronavirus, leaving behind orphans. Fifteen Chareidim passed away in the past week alone.”

It seems as if the British variant spreads faster among children than the original virus. According to a Kikar H’Shabbos report on Monday, hundreds of children in Modiin Illit have tested positive for the coronavirus in recent days.

One official in the city said: “The virus is spreading like wildfire among young children. There are many cases of two-three-year-olds who tested positive in the past week and daycares and ganim are closing one after the other. This is worrying, not because of what happens to the young child – usually nothing – but due to the increase in the infection rate.”

The phenomenon is not limited to Modiin Illit. There are daily reports of outbreaks in schools, Talmudei Torah, and yeshivos in Chareidi cities and the Chareidi neighborhoods of Jerusalem. About 40% of the morbidity in Israel’s educational institutions is in the Chareidi sector.

According to Prof. Eran Segal of Weizmann Institute, the infection rate in the Chareidi sector has increased by sixteen in the past four weeks, from 100 verified cases a day four weeks ago to 1600 a day today. “There has never been such a high rate of increase like this from the beginning of the pandemic,” he said.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)



11 Responses

  1. Just to clarify what that last paragraph means:
    First week of December – rate of infections increased from 100/day to 200/day
    2nd week of December – rate of infections increased from 200/day to 400/day
    3rd week of December – rate of infections increased from 400/day to 800/day
    4th week of December – rate of infections increased from 800/day to 1600/day
    Therefore, we can extrapolate that -> if schools are not closed<-, the following will occur:
    1st week of Jan. – rate of infections will increase from 1600/day to 3200/day
    2nd week of Jan. – rate of infections will increase from 3200/day to 6400/day
    3rd week of Jan. – rate of infections will increase from 6400/day to 12,800/day.
    Hashem Yishmor.

  2. So the question is, if it’s spreading via the Talmudei Torah and the Yeshivos in the Chareidi community, should the lockdown include these institutions? Chamira sakanta m’issura vs. Torah magina u’matzila – what is the Halacha?

    an Israeli Yid

  3. This is all chiloni propaganda. There is no Coronavirus. Since when have the British been so generous as to give Israel anything for free? If you believe all of this you are a koifer b’ikar. People die all the time r”l. There is no Coronavirus in Eretz Yisruel. Ask the Belzer Rebbe Shlita if you don’t believe me.

  4. Jerusalem observer you are lucky if no close family member or friend passed away this year. Very lucky
    And I’m no supporter of the state
    And no supporter of shutting the grocery at 7pm but allowing protests all over

  5. British Variant Spreading Let’s be clear & get to the bottom of it once & for all:- This NOT a British variant:- This is a South African, which then made its way to Britain and eventually other countries, but it is “South African Variant”.

  6. BS”D
    It is harmless for almost everyone.
    The people who died would be alive had Dr. Zelenko’s protocol been used.
    I heard that hydroxychloroquine was removed from shelves.
    Ivormectin also works.
    The decision makers clearly want to destroy livelihoods and belief in G-d.

  7. To RT:
    It soared because this new strain of Coronavirus spreads much more quickly than the original strain.

    To AnIsraelYid:
    Ask your local Orthodox Rabbi for a psak. I doubt you can control what those institutions are going to do, so I’m not sure why you are asking. As far as an individual is concerned, I would say that everyone should daven and learn at home, B’yichidus, but I’m not your local Orthodox Rabbi.

    To Jerusalem observer: Stop writing Loshon Hara.

  8. Jerusalem observer, how I wish your information was true! Unfortunately, I went to two shiva homes in Kiryat Sefer last week of friends who died of COVID. Most Gedolei Yisrael, including Rav Chaim Kanievski, Rav Asher Weiss, Rav Gershon Edelstein, shlita say that we must take precautions against COVID. What is so bad to wear a surgical mask? Believe me, it’s no worse than wearing a streimel in the summer heat.
    I wouldn’t want to be even indirectly responsible for the deaths of other yidden, Hashem yiracheim.

  9. RT you wonder mwhy it soared, try this frim jpost today
    Hundreds attend hassidic wedding in city with highest rate of infections
    By JEREMY SHARON JANUARY 6, 2021 13:06

  10. TrueBT – I have a psak from my Rav, which I follow. The reason for putting the question out there the way that I did was to make people think about the issue and the sometimes contradictory guidance being given at different times – v’hamevin yavin.

    an Israeli Yid

Leave a Reply


Popular Posts