A Jewish day school in New York City is closed today due to a “suspected case of coronavirus in our community.”
In a letter addressed to parents and faculty, the SAR Academy in the Riverdale section of the Bronx announced that it would close “for precautionary measures.”
“We are in touch with the New York City Department of Health and following their guidelines,” the letter said.
The letter also said that “it (is) important to remain calm.” The letter lists precautionary measures, including handwashing techniques.
The letter is signed by the principal of SAR Academy, Rabbi Binyamin Krauss, and its two high school principals, Rabbis Tully Harcsztark and Jonathan Kroll.
No one answered the phones at either the academy or high school buildings this morning.
The Yeshiva World News website reported that the unnamed coronavirus case is the father of an SAR student or students.
The Westchester Day School also closed today, though it does not have any cases of suspected coronavirus, the school’s executive director, Rachel Goldman, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
The school, which has students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight, closed “out of an abundance of caution” since there is a suspected case of the virus in one of its feeder communities. The suspected case does not have any children in the Westchester Day School, Goldman said.
The Westchester Torah Academy also closed today due to the coronavirus case, telling parents in a letter sent this morning that it would be turning buses around and sending children home.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced this morning a second confirmed case of coronavirus in New York, a man in his 50s in Westchester County. The first case was announced on Sunday, a 39-year-old woman in Manhattan, a health care worker who had been visiting Iran. Six people who contracted coronavirus have died in the United States.
