A prominent ultra-Orthodox leader on Wednesday called on students of religious institutions across the country to not get tested for coronavirus after hundreds have been tested positive for the pathogen in recent weeks.
Ultra-Orthodox news outlet Kikar HaShabbat reported Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, a leading adjudicator in the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox movement, instructed heads of yeshivas to refrain from further testing their students as it could lead to a closure of the institutions.
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Left: Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, Right: Rina Shel Torah yeshiva in Karmiel
(Photo: Ahiya Raved)
The rabbi's associates confirmed the report.
Kanievsky's words raise concerns among medical professionals that Israel could lose control of the spread of coronavirus and cause an uptick in cases.
Reportedly, more than 800 yeshiva students studying in boarding school conditions were found to be positive for the virus in the last three days alone.
Officials estimate hundreds more could be infected at privately owned yeshivas that are not properly supervised.
Sephardic leader Rabbi Zion Boaron came out in support of the Ashkenazi rabbi's order.
Boaron's associates said that he has long instructed those who consult him, including other influential rabbis and heads of yeshivas, not to conduct coronavirus tests.
According to Boaron, wide testing leads to "severe incitement against the ultra-Orthodox public and closure of yeshivas and synagogues and restrictions on religious activities."
Meanwhile, 200 of 400 students and staff at Rina Shel Torah yeshiva in the northern town of Karmiel have tested positive for coronavirus, the municipality said on Wednesday.
The building and nearby residences were placed under lockdown after several of the institution's students were diagnosed with the virus over the weekend.
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Karmiel Mayor Moshe Koninski (left) and Home Front Command personnel near Rina Shel Torah
(Photo: Karmiel Municipality)
The institution is placed in the middle of a significant elderly population and residents fear this outbreak may put their lives at risk.
The municipality claimed that there is no contact between the students and the rest of the population and that the IDF Home Front Command and the Health Ministry are overseeing the outrbreak.
Residents expressed annoyance at the municipality's reluctance to report the outbreak although they were aware of it as early as Saturday evening.
It is still unclear whether the students and staff will be sent to hotels for quarantine or whether the entire building would become a compound for those in isolation.