N.Y. cases double as rabbi prays for lawyer still in hosp
A New Rochelle rabbi, one of 36 victims infected with the coronavirus by a still-hospitalized congregant, offered his prayers Friday for the father of four’s full recovery as the number of New York state cases doubled for a second straight day,
Rabbi Reuven Fink, leader of the temporarily shuttered Temple Young Israel, remained in quarantine Friday as Gov. Cuomo announced the number of cases statewide climbed to
44 with the addition of 22 newly confirmed patients. The majority are still linked to the man at the epicenter of the virus’ spread in the Westchester and Rockland counties.
The growing number of those with symptoms include his wife, his kids, his friends, his neighbors — and now his spiritual leader.
“Certainly our minds never diverted from thinking about and praying for our good friend who lay in the hospital in such serious condition,” wrote Fink to his synagogue in a letter posted online shortly after his own diagnosis. “We thought of his wife and the kids and what they were going through.”
The latest cases included a 7-year-old boy, a 12-year-old girl and an 82-year-old man among the 34 total victims in Westchester County, Cuomo said in a late afternoon news conference. There were also four infected patients in New York City and four in Nassau County, and two more in Rockland County — apparently a pair of residents who worked a bat mitzvah at Fink’s synagogue last month.
It marked the second consecutive day when the number of cases increased twofold: From 11 on Wednesday to 22 on Thursday, and then again to 44 on Friday.
A student at the Westchester Day School in Mamaroneck was also confirmed as infected, a source told the Daily News, while Cuomo said three of the cases were related to the lawyer’s arrival at a suburban hospital for treatment.
Fink was among the close to 50 New Yorkers under mandatory quarantine across the state, with another 4,000 people currently under precautionary quarantine, according to Cuomo. The rabbi’s letter advised members of the temple to speak with a health professional about what to do next.
The New Rochelle man who became the second victim identified remained hospitalized at an unidentified New York facility — although Mayor de Blasio said his condition was improving.
“The lawyer from Westchester, who originally was in tough shape, has been getting better,” the mayor said.
Avi Fink, the rabbi’s son and a senior City Hall staffer, tested negative for the coronavirus, according to the mayor’s office.
Temple Young Israel was cited by authorities as a risk for infection after they discovered the lawyer attended services there on Feb. 22-23. The Westchester County health commissioner suspended all services at the Temple Young Israel.
“The lesson to me on New Rochelle is how you can, in a gathering of a number of people, you can get infected just like the flu,” the governor said. “You can have one large gathering of 400, 500 and infect a number of people.”
The latest New York City victim was a Manhattanite who had some unspecified interaction with the Westchester lawyer, a commuter from New Rochelle into a Midtown law office on E. 42nd St.
De Blasio said there were currently more than 2,700 New York City residents under home quarantine as part of the city’s “abundance of caution” in fighting the virus.