B”H our Kehila in Lakewood has seen a tremendous reduction in COVID-19 new illnesses in the last 2 weeks, thanks to the dedication of the community to maintain social distancing.
The poskim have allowed outdoor minyanim with strict adherence to social distancing and a limit of no more than 10 people.
However, do not be fooled into thinking that this pandemic is over. We still do not have any definitive treatments or cure for this disease. People are still getting sick and are at risk of getting sick. It is still unclear whether having had the disease or even having antibodies will protect someone from getting sick again.Please maintain caution by avoiding congregating together in any social groups and children from separate households should absolutely not play together. We need to prevent a resurgence of infections in our community and it is the achrayus of each individual to do their share to protect others and save lives.
Lakewood Township has many different communities. Right now, the curve of infection in some Lakewood Township communities is behind our frum community by several weeks and the rates of new infection and spread of disease is still high. No one should have their cleaning help come back into their homes at this time due to persistent rates of infection in other communities in Lakewood.
We Daven for the recovery of those seriously ill patients still in the hospital and for Hashem to bring us a complete yeshua to this mageifa soon.
Daniel Roth, MD
Reuven Shanik, MD
Howard Lebowitz, MD
Dovid Ogun, MD
Allen Lempel, MD
Lawrence Shoner, MD
Yaacov Zamel, MD
Hillel Peltz, DO
Binyomin Greenberg, MD
Elchonon Glantz, MD
Neal Gittleman, MD
Clara Surowitz, MD
Jonathan Cohen, MD
Dovid Friedman, MD
Jeffrey Kaminetsky, MD
Miro Ukraincik, MD
Micah May, MD
Baruch Kassover, MD
And I’m assuming it’s obvious to all those that already took them back to immediately stop letting them come.
Don’t think your smarter than the doctors.
Not only did I take my cleaning help back, I’ve never stopped taking them threw out this virus. Nor did my neighbor’s. Nobody is claiming to be smarter then the doctors, but at the same time it’s not practical not to have cleaning help for months. You could scream all you want to stop, it’s not going to help!
Please. The “doctor group” has proven they are completely unreliable on the front end of this and continue to put themselves in the center of this all. The public is only interested in fact and not being told what to do. The amount of traffic on the streets shows that quarantine is effectively over and we can safely reopen all small shops as well.
I have seen cleaning help going in to homes from day one without masks or gloves. Including getting brought to homes via homeowners, with their cars and neither wearing masks or gloves.
I have a better idea. Kids are home have them clean and give them an allowance. There are plenty of unemployed right now who could use the money also.
To yakov
Be careful what you say the doctors know more then you
Are the Doctors that foolish to truly believe that there were only some 1800 cases in Lakewood?
Most of Lakewood had it by now, its time to move on
Oh!
I was wondering why cleaning help wasn’t brought up earlier by our choshuve management.
Actually while the minyan rule breakers were being called out, the ones using cleaning help were being ignored. Wonder if it had anything to do with the communities they were usually associated with….
seems like the doctors may not agree with the poskem about having outdoor minyanim
Pesach came and went without cleaning help. But at this point, cleaning help is almost pikuach nefesh. Our homes need to be cleaned regularly and with everything going on, it is an additional burden. Over half the population has had the virus already.
I dont like when you say “almost Pikuach Nefesh”.
It’s vadai Pikuach Nefesh, none greater than this. What are we supposed to do, clean it ourselves?
My family has over 10 people; so does my neighbor’s. In almost all families on my block of over 25 families, some members have had symptoms, while others have not. And yet noone has had any symptoms in the past 3 weeks. If having had the disease offers no immunity, and one can pass on the disease weeks after symptoms have left, wouldn’t all of us continue reinfecting our own families over and over? Wouldn’t the disease keep on bouncing from one family member to the other and then back again in a never ending cycle? The fact that Lakewood has many many large families of over 10 members (who are in no way quarantined from each other), and yet all symptoms are gone, is a strong proof that it is not easy to get this disease a second time once one has had it.
everyone relax
what makes you think the DRs even know the scoop posted this?!dont believe everything media posts these days!
Oh please if you can get the virus again we’re all doomed regardless of any social distancing so we might as well go on as we can’t be quarantined forever. A super majority of Lakewood have been exposed and are not getting sick… please open up our town and state as we cannot continue much longer and let the yeshivos open and those at risk should continue to quarantine as opposed to the entire world. The doctors in Lakewood are wonderful but i think they have to admit that the extreme slowdown to virtually no new cases is mostly as a result of our exposure with some modest help from social distancing
Hey zumy!
Did you ever think of the option of doing it yourself ?
if your kids are old enough make it a requirement ! i dont get why heaven forbid doing it yourself is such a sacrifice ! arent you reading any messages from this magefeh???
How do you think Pesach happened? BH, We clean very assiduously ourselves. The house passes the white glove test. But it is very time consuming and the additional presence of the residents of the home all the time makes cleaning a bigger job.
TO all the above, GROW UP. If your old enough to have a family then you should be able to keep house. Hard! yes. Very difficult! Yes. Impossible! Never. yes it is extremely challenging but would you ingest a poison if there is even the slightest 1% chance of danger? I dont think so. Relatively speaking, this is the same thing. Why would you have cleaning help come to your home if there is even the the slightest of slightest chance of danger. I dont get it. Nothing is impossible. It is all a matter of psyche
Come on, no comparison to poison. Of course no one would take poison with 1% chance of danger, but we’re talking about living our lives as normal people. there is always a degree of danger in life. Everyone knows this. Please don’t let this black and white form of thinking get you confused!
That’s why I wrote, “relatively speaking”. That being said, we know scores of thousands of people have died from this including many many here in Lakewood. Have you driven by the cemetery lately? I have. When you see the close to 100 fresh new graves that are there with both young and old freshly buried, you may change your mind
Surely you realize that every time you step into a car theres a 1% chance you won’t return home again. Pedestrians crossing streets also get killed. Are you suggesting that we dont drive and dont leave the house anymore because there might be “the slightest of the slightest chance of danger”??????
james!whatta genius you are?????!!!!!!!
When was the last time that you saw scores of fresh graves from car accidents in a matter of 4 weeks. You havn’t. Thats because the comparison is NULL
Many years ago when NJ stated the only 1 person in a car with a teenage licence there were a lot of teenages how were killed that summer
I don’t understand what these doctors have in mind. Yes, I understand the importance of “flattening the curve”, but what’s the plan going forward?Stay locked down forever? Are they considering the economic impact? At some point, you just have to live life normally. I think that we, as a community, need to think this through and come up with some sort of plan that doesn’t involve destroying people’s livelihoods. Just one man’s opinion.
Do all these doctors have young families of 8,9 children at home . Needing to be constantly fed and the laundry and cleaning in a never ending cycle? Almost everyone I know has had the virus already as did my family . I’m willing to take my cleaning help back with the tiny possibility that you can get it again(which most doctors out there don’t think is the case, just saying it to keep everyone in) My mental health and sanity is at stake at this point. 90% of Lakewood has had it at this point they didn’t let people get tested so it’s not recorded but enough is enough !!
You can easily look online and the new cases reported in past few days were not in Lakewood. So its not true that only the Frum community has no new cases. As people posted above they should ban driving as there is a bigger chance of getting into an accident then getting the virus again
Many people are taking antibody tests that are coming back postive along with POSTIVE corana tests. This people were sick after Purim, but the virus lingers for a while. Though they are not sick their postive tests are now being counted as new cases
So we want to lock everyone else out and then complain that they want to lock us all in?
While I am not questioning the letter in any which way. Why are obstetricians and ophthalmologist signing this letter. They have no in depth education in infectious disease. Front line doctors who are actually dealing with patients and the CDC should be guiding us.
Let’s not water down an important letter by just throwing names in there. Might as well add educated people who delved into this disease.
Don’t water down such an i
Both ophthalmologists and obstetricians have gone through 3-4 years of undergraduate programs with an emphasis in biological sciences and chemistry. Summer internships in research labs where they learn to analyze medical reports and studies. 4 years of medical school and 3+ year residencies in hospitals where even if the focus is not infectious disease, they are still holding in the medical field and cultivated a sense of logical rational thinking when it comes to the health sciences. They are on this list reflecting the guidance of the CDC and front line doctors.
Compared to the “educated people who delved into this disease”. even if one “Read up” on Coronavirus non stop for the past 2-4 months I know who I would rely on.
BSD
We bought the most fabulous vacuum cleaner at BB electronics.
Hoover ‘Windtunnel’ (2). Vaccums floors and carpets…reaches corners and crevices easily. Very lightweight and absolutely fabulous. Easy for everyday use. Such a good product, we believe every household should own one. Approximately $150.00
We have no vested interest other than Ahavas Yisroel.
For wood and ceramic floors…
‘cedar’ (red rod hand with black grip) with washable velcro cloth. Sold at Lowe’s on Route 9.
Use with a bit of Fabuloso (lavender) and hot tap water solution. Approximately $50.00
‘Swiffer Dusters’ (180 degrees) for dusting.
Plastic disposable plates. Plastic cups cutlery. Paper hot drink/soup cups.
הצלחה רבה וכל טוב
I have another reason for not bringing back my cleaning help. I have 2 teenage boys who are home all day – in and out of their (class)rooms… do they have to come out and have a woman who’s not dressed appropriately right in front of them? Let’s keep the Kedushas Habayis – it will be a Zechus for us!! Hatzlocha to all!!!
yesssssss great point @miriam!!!!!!!! thank you for bringing that up!!!! so heilige and kadosh!!!
Our cleaning lady is so worried about contracting the virus that she hasn’t left her house in several weeks. Thank H’ my mother trained me young to clean bathrooms. I even cleaned the bathrooms in my Yeshiva when the cleaning help wasn’t available. My Rosh Hayeshiva toId me it was one of the biggest mitzvas in the world, so surely it is also at home. I clean them and my wife cleans the floors. It’s pretty good exercise actually. What else are we to do?
Very impressive! your being mekayem the Mitzva of Venishmartem Meod Lnafshoseichem and Ahavas Yisroel, while being a helpful and considerate spouse. Ashrei Yoladetecha.
Chas vshalom if it was your family member that died, you would not be so easy to take in a cleaning lady. Think about everyone that lost someone close to them. And by the way, thank hashem, I stopped my spanish lady right before pesach and not only did she get it, her husband got it as well and he died 2 weeks ago!! I’m frightened to think what would’ve been if I kept her before pesach. Think again before you take them in with you. And, if you do, make sure you question them.
Probably, you and your family would have gotten it and been totally fine like 3/4 of Lakewood . In fact you may have had it and gave it to her the incubation period is 14 days !
There’s 2 points that can be an issue. Physical health. And mental health. For those people who believe life is all physical and the only concern we have is protecting ourselves from the virus…rethink your way of life …and yes mental health is as important and if not having cleaning help will cause a women to break down its as bad as the virus! Menatl health goes hand in hand with physical…we each need to know what we can handle and take care of ourselves responsibly…and yes for some people that means a cleaning lady. (Not everyone is capable of dojng it in thier own-dont judge!) רוח איש יכלכל מחלהו! I trust everyone is doing thier best…and wish every mom out there lots of luck during this challenge!
To Miriam Where do you get your cleaners What do they wear when they work in your home?
And who exactly cleans the doctors offices and Clinics?
To all those that think they know more or who are smarter than the Dr’s. I’m not sure when in history or jewish law we were willing to sacrifice even 1 jew for comfort. It’s shameful to even have this conversation.
With regard to the mental health. Got took us out of the shuls. Put the time to good use. Help clean the house and let go of the ego. Heping your wife and kids is bigger mitzvah than davening with a minyan. Probably the biggest mitzva men have. Reset the priorities
Some of you ppl have such chutzpah! The doctors are selflessly doing their part in telling their community what’s best to keep them safe. If you want to be negative don’t write it here keep it to yourself!