Cuomo blames Jewish communities for spreading COVID-19 in New York

The state governor believes that the "religious practices" of Orthodox Jews contribute to the spread of COVID-19 in New York. The edition writes about it Yahoo News... He also signed a decree to cut funding for yeshivas in the "red" zones of the metropolis.

“We now have problems in the Orthodox Jewish community in New York, where, due to their religious practices, we are seeing the spread of the coronavirus,” said New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo.

Cuomo's stance was heavily criticized by New York's Jewish leaders last week. They even took to the streets of Brooklyn to protest the new coronavirus restrictions. Recall that the governor ordered to restrict the work of schools, churches and a number of enterprises in the "red" zones of the metropolis in connection with new outbreaks of the virus. Now, in some parts of the city, only ten believers are allowed to gather at a time.

Among the "red" zones of Brooklyn and Queens, there are many Jewish quarters.

“We are shocked by the words and actions of Governor Cuomo,” said a letter from four Jewish lawmakers representing neighborhoods affected by the new restrictions. "He decided to conduct a scientifically and constitutionally dubious closure of our communities."

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Cuomo believes that it was the Jewish communities refusing to comply with the new rules that allowed the virus to spread.

“They didn't follow the original rules,” Cuomo said. "This is why the infection has spread."

As of Wednesday, October 14, the number of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 increased from 705 to 748.

The New York pandemic is entering a "new phase," the governor said. And this happens as a result of the fact that “in one particular mini-cluster the rules of social distancing were not observed”. Cuomo stressed that the virus will not disappear anytime soon: "At best, we have another year ahead ... even if everything works out."

As reported on the site theyeshivaworld.comCuomo also signed an executive order to cut funding for yeshivas in New York's red zones. The reason was that they did not stop working, despite the resumption of quarantine restrictions.

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“If the schools are working, it's easy enough to figure out,” Cuomo said, citing two recent reports on yeshiva operations despite last week's restrictions. "Schools that violate the closure order will receive a forced closure notice and we will deny funding to these schools."