Lawsuit Revives Victims’ Hopes That Alleged Abuser Will Face Justice

https://jewishweek.timesofisrael.com/lawsuit-revives-victims-hopes-that-alleged-abuser-faces-justice/

The suit alleges that during their mandated counseling session, Mondrowitz — who at the time had a popular radio show and was revered by many within the charedi world as a talented psychologist despite having faked his credentials — molested Zuckerman. After the incident Zuckerman says Mondrowitz took him to a bookstore and bought him an expensive set of young adult books he wanted, written by the 19th-century German rabbi and author, Marcus Lehmann.

The teacher took him to the office of the school’s spiritual supervisor, Avrohom Leizerowitz, who, Zuckerman claims, “berated him for his ‘dirty mind’ and instructed him that he would be required to receive counseling” from the very man in the basement, Avrohom Mondrowitz.

(In 2006 Leizerowitz fled to Israel after allegations surfaced that he had molested boys. A post on the website of the now-defunct Awareness Center reported that a civil suit was filed against him alleging that he improperly touched a boy during a one-on-one help session in his office.)

The complaint, filed Monday in Brooklyn Supreme Court, takes advantage of a law passed last year allowing victims of childhood sexual abuse a limited window of time in which to pursue abuse claims even if the statute of limitations has run out. Zuckerman also asserts in the complaint that after he reported the abuse to Leizerowitz he was expelled from the yeshiva, which is affiliated with the Ger chasidic sect; the expulsion came, he told The Jewish Week, via a letter written to his parents explaining that he “didn’t fit the school and they should find another school.”

Longitudinal evaluation and decline of antibody responses in SARS-CoV-2 infection

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.07.09.20148429v1

 This article is a preprint and has not been certified by peer review [what does this mean?]. It reports new medical research that has yet to be evaluated and so should not be used to guide clinical practice.

Antibody (Ab) responses to SARS-CoV-2 can be detected in most infected individuals 10-15 days following the onset of COVID-19 symptoms. However, due to the recent emergence of this virus in the human population it is not yet known how long these Ab responses will be maintained or whether they will provide protection from re-infection. Using sequential serum samples collected up to 94 days post onset of symptoms (POS) from 65 RT-qPCR confirmed SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals, we show seroconversion in >95% of cases and neutralizing antibody (nAb) responses when sampled beyond 8 days POS. We demonstrate that the magnitude of the nAb response is dependent upon the disease severity, but this does not affect the kinetics of the nAb response. Declining nAb titres were observed during the follow up period. Whilst some individuals with high peak ID₅₀ (>10,000) maintained titres >1,000 at >60 days POS, some with lower peak ID₅₀ had titres approaching baseline within the follow up period. A similar decline in nAb titres was also observed in a cohort of seropositive healthcare workers from Guy′s and St Thomas′ Hospitals. We suggest that this transient nAb response is a feature shared by both a SARS-CoV-2 infection that causes low disease severity and the circulating seasonal coronaviruses that are associated with common colds. This study has important implications when considering widespread serological testing, Ab protection against re-infection with SARS-CoV-2 and the durability of vaccine protection.

 

Immunity to Covid-19 could be lost in months, UK study suggests

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/12/immunity-to-covid-19-could-be-lost-in-months-uk-study-suggests

People who have recovered from Covid-19 may lose their immunity to the disease within months, according to research suggesting the virus could reinfect people year after year, like common colds.

In the first longitudinal study of its kind, scientists analysed the immune response of more than 90 patients and healthcare workers at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS foundation trust and found levels of antibodies that can destroy the virus peaked about three weeks after the onset of symptoms then swiftly declined.

Blood tests revealed that while 60% of people marshalled a “potent” antibody response at the height of their battle with the virus, only 17% retained the same potency three months later. Antibody levels fell as much as 23-fold over the period. In some cases, they became undetectable.

“People are producing a reasonable antibody response to the virus, but it’s waning over a short period of time and depending on how high your peak is, that determines how long the antibodies are staying around,” said Dr Katie Doores, lead author on the study at King’s College London

Trump on private border wall segment: ‘It was only done to make me look bad’

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/12/trump-border-wall-make-me-look-bad-357706

Saying it was done to embarrass him, President Donald Trump on Sunday said a reportedly defective section of his new border wall should not have been built by a private company.

ProPublica and the Texas Tribune reported Thursday that a segment of the wall along the Texas-Mexico border was showing dangerous “signs of erosion“ only months after being completed. The section was constructed by Fisher Industries of North Dakota, whose owner called the design a “Lamborghini.” It cost $42 million.

 

Health Ministry chief: 2,100 cases in just over 36 hours

https://en.globes.co.il/en/article-health-ministry-chief-2100-cases-in-just-over-36-hours-1001335671#utm_source=RSS

Prof. Hezi Levi feels people do not understand the extent to which Covid-19 is spreading in Israel.

Ministry of Health director general Prof. Hezi Levi has been trying to explain the severity of the growing spread of Covid-19 in Israel. "Yesterday there were 1,221 new people who tested positive and today since midnight there has been 900 more. There are more than 40,000 confirmed cases in Israel and divided by age 25% are under 18 and 8% over 65. There are currently 525 people hospitalized, of whom more than 100 are seriously ill and 54 people are on ventilators. 354 people have died. The infection rate is growing and rising, and the number of daily tests we are conducting is increasing. We are performing about 28,000 of which about 6% are positive."

Trump spreads conspiracy from ex-game show host Chuck Woolery

Acosta to McEnany: Why not have the guts to trash Fauci with your own names?

How Pandemics Wreak Havoc—and Open Minds

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/07/20/how-pandemics-wreak-havoc-and-open-minds

The plague marked the end of the Middle Ages and the start of a great cultural renewal. Could the coronavirus, for all its destruction, offer a similar opportunity for radical change?

 

1 – The Mitzvah of Settling the Land of Israel

https://ph.yhb.org.il/en/05-04-01/

The reason the Rambam does not include this mitzvah in his count of the 613 is that it is beyond the regular “value” of mitzvot; therefore, it is not included in their detailed enumeration. This coincides with the rules the Rambam lays down at the beginning of Sefer HaMitzvot, stating it is inappropriate to reckon commandments that encompass the entire Torah, as he writes in Mitzvah #153 [that settling the Land of Israel is all-inclusive]. Besides which, it is implausible to say that the mitzvah of Yishuv HaAretz is only rabbinically ordained today [and that that is why the Rambam leaves it out of the count]. After all, Chazal’s statement that settling the Land is equal to all the mitzvot of the Torah was made after the destruction of the Second Temple. Now, it is unlikely that they would say such a thing about a rabbinic mitzvah. Moreover, it is improbable that the Rabbis would dismantle a family (see above regarding divorce), and allow one to violate a shevut, merely for the sake of a rabbinic mitzvah (see Rabbi Zisberg’s Nachalat Ya’akov, Vol. 1, pp. 201-249).

Public Health And Teaching Experts Weigh In On Plans To Safely Reopen Schools | MSNBC

Where we went wrong: Expert says these 3 blunders caused new Israeli COVID chaos

https://www.timesofisrael.com/where-we-went-wrong-expert-says-these-3-blunders-caused-new-israeli-covid-chaos/

 

When schools reopened in early May, children studied in small groups, smaller than regular classes, as a measure to stop the spread of the virus. But this so-called capsule arrangement was quickly stopped, and regular class sizes were restored.

According to Barbash this was a major mistake. “Schools should have either stayed closed or allowed only 15 kids in classes,” he said. “Kids who are above nine should be treated like adults, and shouldn’t gather in groups of more than 10 to 15.”

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How did Florida get so badly hit by Covid-19?

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-53357742

 

"There's a lot of misinformation all over the web about the seriousness of this outbreak," says Dr Aileen Marty, a Florida International University infectious disease expert who has been working with state officials on the pandemic response. She says this is partly why Florida is now among the worst-hit regions.

"Since we don't have a consistent message in our state, let alone our country, there's even more confusion."

The Republican governor has also downplayed the severity of Florida's outbreak by pointing to the increase in testing and younger Floridians being infected - particularly those aged 25 to 34 - as well as a lower death rate.

"Generally, deaths follow about two weeks behind when we get the positive tests," Dr Marty explains. She pushes back against the notion that America is doing well with deaths from this virus, saying even looking at just the raw data shows the nationwide rate - around 5.6% - is concerning.

"That's considering the fact that we're better at it now than we were," she adds. "We're getting people in beds sooner, moving people to ICUs sooner."

Testing, despite delays in getting results, has also aided mitigation. Medication is helping, though Florida has run out of the Remdesivir antiviral drug and is awaiting new shipments.

"I just don't understand people who say our death rate is great," Dr Marty says.

The median age of infections in Miami-Dade County, the state's most populous region, is 40. In Tallahassee, the median recently hit a low of 25 years old.