Dear Friends,
The Covid-19 virus has caused much illness, pain and death in many nearby Orthodox communities and throughout the United States. Thank G-d our community has been relatively spared from the Covid-19 pandemic in large part due to the exemplary behavior of our population in social distancing, wearing masks and avoiding large crowds.
It is natural that people think it is okay to socialize now because the incidence of the disease is extremely low, but that is a false sense of security. Many states are now experiencing a significant spike in the disease precisely because things were going so well that the population thought that it was all over. However, the reality of increased outbreaks in these states demonstrated the error in their judgment. ICUs throughout the country are also overwhelmed with critically ill covid patients, indicating that cases of life threatening illness are also spiking.
To be sure, outdoor gatherings are less dangerous than inside gatherings in terms of virus spreading. However, even outdoors, large gatherings of people, without social distancing and without masks, are very risky. Precisely because our community has been spared to a large degree from the virus, few of us are immune and the risk of viral spreading is still great. All it takes is one covid infected person at one of these gatherings to spark a large outbreak in our community, G-d forbid. In addition to risking lives, accelerating the rate of “normalization” threatens the greater community goals of returning as many as possible to work and school and of being able to observe the Yomim Noraim in unity.
We urge everyone to
Try to keep crowds to a minimum
Enforce social distancing
Wear masks
The baal simcha or the host of any gathering should be responsible for strictly enforcing these rules. Furthermore, even in smaller gatherings it is important to wear masks and maintain social distancing.
Dr. Elliott Frank
Dr. Daniel Rosenblatt
Dr. Marc Scheiner
Dr. Barry Wolf