A renewed outbreak of coronavirus in the haredi city of Kiryas Yoel in the United States, home to a large community of Satmar Hassidim, is hitting the residents much harder this time around as compared to during the so-called “first wave” of the coronavirus, Kikar Hashabbat reports.
Figures published by the “Vechai Bahem” organization (that was established in Kiryas Yoel specifically in order to deal with the coronavirus threat) show that as of Tuesday of this week, 46 people were hospitalized with coronavirus, with nine of them in critical condition. 16 of them were subsequently able to be sent home after their conditions improved sufficiently.
As such, there are 30 people from the Kiryas Yoel community alone in hospital, with another 41 being treated with oxygen at home who are not currently in need of hospitalization.
According to the 2019 census, Kiryas Yoel has approximately 25,000 residents of whom 58% are under 18 years of age.
One of those in critical condition is the head of the local Satmar community, R’ Meir Zelig Riesfeler, whose condition recently took a sharp turn for the worse.
The community asks people to recite Psalms for the recovery of the sick, and to pray especially for R’ Meir Zelig ben Esther.