Rabbi of shul at center of NY coronavirus outbreak tests positive

Rabbi Reuven Fink was under home quarantine, having come into contact with a 50-year-old congregant who is currently in a critical condition due to COVID-19

By DONNA RACHEL EDMUNDS
Commissioner of Health for New York State Howard Zucker, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio deliver remarks at a news conference. New York, U.S., March 2, 2020. (photo credit: ANDREW KELLY / REUTERS)
Commissioner of Health for New York State Howard Zucker, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio deliver remarks at a news conference. New York, U.S., March 2, 2020.
(photo credit: ANDREW KELLY / REUTERS)
Rabbi Reuven Fink, the Rabbi of Young Israel of New Rochelle, the synagogue at the center of a coronavirus outbreak in Westchester County, New York, has tested positive for coronavirus.
The rabbi had been in self-quarantine, having been in contact with a family who have contracted the virus, all of whom attend his shul. 50 year-old Lawrence Garbuz, a lawyer who works in downtown Manhattan, is currently in critical condition, while his wife and daughter are showing symptoms. Classes were halted at Yeshiva University earlier this week after his 20-year-old son also tested positive for the virus.
A neighbor who drove Garbuz to the hospital has also tested positive, as did a family of five after the father came into "close proximity" with Garbuz.
Services were suspended at the Young Israel synagogue this week on orders of the Westchester County health commissioner, and members who attended a bar mitzvah and a funeral in late February have been asked to self-quarantine until at least March 8. The quarantine order covers more than 100 families, according to the New Rochelle mayor, Noam Bramson
In addition to his duties at Young Israel, Rabbi Fink teaches two undergraduate classes at the Washington Heights campus. In a statement sent to parents, the university recommended that students in his classes self-quarantine as a precautionary measure until further notice.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with Rabbi Fink for a full and speedy recovery," Dr Ari Berman, President of Yeshiva University, said in the statement.
As of Thursday, 22 people in New York were known to have the virus, according to state officials, of whom 18 are in Westchester. An estimated 1,000 are in home quarantine. "The number will continue to go up," Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Thursday. "The more you test the higher number you will have."
“It is deeply concerning and distressing to see one’s own community, one’s own neighbors, dealing with a challenge of this scale and this intensity,” Mayor Bramson said after leaving City Hall on Tuesday evening. “The hope and expectation is that those subject to the quarantine will abide by its terms voluntarily,” he added.
Residents of the town are nervous as more cases are identified.
“I feel scared,” Raj Shaikhar, who owns a convenience store on North Avenue told the New York Times, adding “And so sorry for that man. He must have been my customer.”
But not all the residents were concerned.
“I recognize that the gentleman who is now in the hospital with coronavirus in New York was walking up and down this street,” Vicky Sturner, 62, told the NY Times.
“I’m going to wash my hands, I’m going to try never to ever touch my face, and I feel terribly sorry for the family that has coronavirus — it affects everybody, the entire community,” she added. “But I can’t stop it and I can’t change it, and I’m going to live my life.”