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Mostly Cloudy Life with coronavirus
Five Towns groups, schools and shuls following experts’ advice
From cleaning prayer books to heeding the advice of medical experts, schools, synagogues and organizations in the Five Towns are working to ensure that students, school staff, congregants and members do not become infected with the coronavirus.
Like other coronaviruses, the current strain, COVID-19, is spread primarily from person to person — typically people within six feet of each other, and through microscopic respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As with many airborne viruses, people with compromised immune systems are especially vulnerable.
Coronaviruses have been around since before the “time of the pharaohs,” said microbiology expert Dr. Dean Hart, a clinical optometrist and medical school professor who has written about the transmission of viruses.
The big question, Hart said, is, will this strain of coronavirus retreat as temperatures climb, like the flu usually does, or continue to spread and become a pandemic? “What you would like to see is data,” Hart said. “Once we get the data and have enough, we see how this compares to the flu. What we have now is pieces of the puzzle. To know exactly, we need three to four months.”
In the Five Towns, schools, shuls and organizations have sent out letters with information on how to remain healthy during the outbreak. As of press time, there were 173 confirmed cases across New York state, 19 in Nassau County, one in Far Rockaway, one in Suffolk and none so far in the Five Towns. There are 108 cases in New Rochelle in Westchester County.
With the possibility that schools could close, as four districts in Nassau already have, the Hewlett-Woodmere and Lawrence school districts mailed and posted letters detailing that option. In one dated March 9, Hewlett-Woodmere Superintendent Dr. Ralph Marino Jr. noted plans for short-term — three days or fewer — and long-term closures. “We continue to thoroughly clean and disinfect our facilities daily in adherence to the guidelines for schools shared by the New York State Department of Health,” Marino wrote.
District officials previously said staff members had met with the district’s physician, Dr. Brian Blinderman, to discuss precautions, which include avoiding touching the eyes, nose and mouth and contact with people who are ill. “It is important to know that all of our school nurses have been informed and trained on the latest recommendations and protocols from the CDC,” Marino stated in a Feb. 28 letter.
Lawrence Superintendent Dr. Ann Pedersen reiterated previously stated advice on protective measures, and addressed the possibility of closing in a letter on Tuesday. Pedersen told the Herald that if the school district needed to close, as a few local colleges have, officials are “working with the teachers’ union and a company” — iTutor — “that will host our online learning platform — that’s if it’s a long-term closure. We are positioned to handle it with all sixth-grade to 12th-grade students having Chromebooks with WiFi hot spots.”
The Lawrence district’s biennial trip to Disney World, scheduled for March 13-15, was postponed, and will be rescheduled. Pedersen said the district would wait until at least March 16 to set new dates for the trip.
“We continue to emphasize all winter cold and flu protocols, including frequent hand washing, use of alcohol-based hand sanitizers, covering your mouth with a sleeve when coughing or sneezing,” she wrote in a Feb. 28 letter sent to parents.
Rabbi Hershel Billet, leader of the Young Israel of Woodmere, the largest Orthodox congregation on the South Shore, said that synagogue leadership was “relaxed and trying to keep the public calm and well-informed.”
“We have advised them to follow conventional medical advice and to listen to the Board of Health,” Billet added. “We have shared the standard methods and care people should take with personal hygiene and interpersonal meetings or gatherings. We have added hand sanitizers to our facilities. Services continue as scheduled, and life goes on. If we must take further steps, we will do as instructed by the government, Board of Health and physicians.”
At Temple Beth El in Cedarhurst, Rabbi Claudio Kupchik also took an unruffled approach, saying he saw no reason to panic, while also noting that it was the proper time to increase awareness and be proactive about avoiding infectious diseases. “We are attentive to what are the best practices advocated by our government and sister congregations, and will update or change our policies accordingly,” Kupchik said. “We are also advising our people not to touch and kiss the mezuzah” — a sacred parchment scroll inscribed by hand with religious texts that is mounted on the right side of a doorjamb, typically at the entrance — “but rather air-kiss if they wish.”
Temple President Bob Fischman added that the synagogue would be cleaning its prayer books. “It’s important to note all this is done in a proactive and precautionary effort,” he said, “with the sensitivity to avoid conveying any unnecessary and unfounded sense of panic.”
To counter rumors and misinformation, the Lawrence-based Achiezer Community Resource Center, which works with other groups to help families enduring hardships ranging from illness to financial troubles, also sent out a letter that was posted on social media. In addition to echoing the recommendations from state and county health officials, Achiezer officials suggested: “If you recently traveled to a country with ongoing person-to-person transmission of COVID-19, please immediately consult with your primary physicians as to the precautionary measures that you and your family should be taking.”
