Fr. Robert Lauder has a deep connection to the arts including film, stage and literature. THE CATHOLIC NOVEL is a lecture series that will focus on some of his favorite novels where Catholicism is treated favorably. This 52nd episode, and series finale features Myles Connolly’s DAN ENGLAND AND THE NOONDAY DEVIL!
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Rabbi Addresses Concerns Over Virus Spread in Orthodox Communities
Currents News Staff
There’s controversy in New York City over religion and the coronavirus pandemic. People want to be together for prayer during times of crisis. But in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, they can’t.
Churches in the Diocese of Brooklyn and across the world are shut down to prevent the spread of the disease.
Many synagogues and other places of worship have done the same.
In Jerusalem, the ultra-Orthodox are ignoring the government restrictions to stop the spread and are still holding weddings and funerals with large crowds.
Meanwhile, in New York, City Hall is issuing a warning. Mayor Bill de Blasio is telling residents they can’t get together in-person for worship, and he’s threatening to permanently close any churches or synagogues that don’t follow that order.
What the mayor wants to accomplish is understandable, but is the warning troubling? Joining Currents News to discuss these restrictions is Rabbi Brad Hirschfield, president of the National Jewish Center Learning and Leadership.
Immigrant Community Faces Health, Job Insecurity During Coronavirus Crisis
By Emily Drooby
Analilia makes ends meet working as a cleaner in New York City, but the COVID-19 crisis has threatened her job.
“So, I can’t pay my rent, my electricity, my phone. I can’t buy food. And it’s not just me. I think that all the workers who are living day to day, with a salary, they can’t do it. They can’t buy their food, pay their bills, their rent,” said Analilia, whose last name has been omitted for safety purposes.
Analilia is an immigrant originally from Mexico. She is a member of Worker’s Justice Project. Like a union, the group uses advocacy, organization and education to make sure immigrants have good working conditions. Their people have been hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis.
“What’s happening is that all the employers are scared, like they can have the virus,” explained Anel, who is also a member.
The virus has crippled the American job market and caused millions of people to file for unemployment benefits.
Many of the people who belong to Worker’s Justice Project can’t do that. In fact, because they’re undocumented many don’t quality for paid sick leave, unemployment insurance, or even the governments bailout.
Without access to these programs, they’re left to fend for themselves during this difficult time. They’re afraid of not being able to pay their bills and of getting sick.
“There aren’t benefits, there’s nothing to support us,” said Yesenia, who has been working as a community organizer for Worker’s Justice Project. “There isn’t a way to pay the rent, we have kids, we need to eat, we need medical attention.”
Deportation is also another fear, one so serious it has even kept some sick Worker’s Justice Project members away from the hospitals.
ICE has announced they’ll delay some removal operations because of health concerns but will continue to conduct others, especially if the person is deemed to be a public safety risk. The limits are very vague.
Worker’s Justice Project is trying to help those who are struggling. Some of their members have been making and selling masks, in an effort to both provide cheaper masks and to make some extra money during this difficult time.
The organization has also set up a donation page. It can be accessed through their website. So far they have raised $4,000 of their $50,000 goal. The money will support 300 families during this difficult time.
Cuomo: Take ‘Positive Lesson’ From Pandemic Precautions
Currents News Staff
“We’re never going to be the same again,” said Cuomo. “We’re not going to forget what happened here.”
And we shouldn’t. Churches and schools are closed, with millions ordered to stay at home. Now playgrounds across the city and state are shut down.
Governor Andrew Cuomo says we need to learn from this pandemic.
“Let’s make sure we’re taking the positive lesson and not the negative lesson.”
Things like making the economy more resilient, having governments work together better, being better at tele-medicine and tele-education, and making medical supplies in this country. The lack of ventilators and the lack of a national plan has been frustrating for Governor Cuomo.
“You cannot buy ventilators. Remarkably, in a real cruel twist of fate, China is the main manufacturer for all these things,” he said. “It all comes back to China.”
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump says the federal government will hold off on sending out almost 10,000 ventilators in preparation for the peak of the outbreak.
“We have to hold them back, because the surge is coming and it’s coming pretty strong. And we want to be able to immediately move it into place,” said Trump.
The president says the next two weeks will be rough and that the country should prepare for 100,000 deaths from the coronavirus. But Dr. Anthony Fauci says “stay-at-home” measures could help mitigate the disease.
“It’s inconvenient from a societal standpoint, from an economic standpoint, to go through this, but this is going to be the answer to our problems,” explained Fauci.
Cuomo says, in the end, this will be a transformative experience.
“The fear that we have, the anxiety that we have, that’s not just going to go away. When do we get back to normal?” he asked. “I don’t think we get back to normal. I think we get back, or we get to a new normal.”
Currents News full broadcast for Wed, 4/1/20
On the newscast: The Tri-State area has now lost more than 2,000 lives to Covid-19, leaving many wondering “How much worse could this get?”; Still, volunteers are rushing into New York’s hospitals. We talk to one nurse who’s just begun a daunting mission; And don’t forget day laborers: some are out of work, and others have no medical coverage against the virus; Plus, a U.S. aircraft carrier at sea is now infected… and a Brooklyn chaplain is on board.
Watch weeknights at 7:00 pm EST on NET-TV in the New York City area on Spectrum, Optimum, and Fios. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive notifications about new content.
New York, Nation Brace for Growing Healthcare Needs
Currents News Staff
Some relief has arrived in New York City in the form of the U.S. naval hospital ship Comfort.
Onboard, 1,000 beds and more than 1,100 medical personnel are ready to treat patients who are not fighting the coronavirus. The vessel is the latest temporary hospital to deal with overcrowding in the city’s medical centers.
“I want you to understand the sheer magnitude of the plan,” said New York City’s mayor, Bill de Blasio. “We have to triple our hospital bed capacity in New York City by May.
“I am asking healthcare professionals across the country: If you don’t have a healthcare crisis in your community, please come help us in New York now,” added Governor Andrew Cuomo. “We need relief, and we will return the favor.”
The Wall Street Journal reports that one city hospital is asking doctors to think “more critically” about which patients get ventilators. Inside of New York’s North Shore University Hospital intensive care unit, nurse practitioner Elyse Isopo showed the harsh reality.
“It’s as bad as I’ve ever seen anything before,” she said. “These are patients that are the sickest I’ve ever seen.”
This comes as officials brace for the days ahead in emerging hotspots across the country, like in New Orleans, Detroit and Miami.
Three out of four Americans are under stay at home orders as of March 31 — that’s more than 250 million people.
President Donald Trump says it’s unlikely he’ll enact them nationwide.
“We have talked about it,” he said. “It was something that was very unwieldy and very tough to enforce, and something we didn’t want to do.
Currents News full broadcast for Tues, 3/31/20
On the newscast: The coronavirus pandemic hits a new high in New York. And the death toll nationwide is greater than on 9/11; We’ll take you inside Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn for a first-hand look at the damage being done; The Mother Cabrini Health Foundation is stepping up in a big way to ease the pain for poor and vulnerable New Yorkers; And love in the age of coronavirus. Nothing can keep one couple apart.
Watch weeknights at 7:00 pm EST on NET-TV in the New York City area on Spectrum, Optimum, and Fios. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive notifications about new content.
How Hospital Chaplains Are Bringing the Faith to Workers, Patients and Families
Currents News Staff
These are trying times for medical workers on the frontlines of the coronavirus crisis. It is unlike any we’ve experienced before in our lives.
There to help medical personnel through are the chaplains – priests who confront this pandemic to make sure the healthcare heroes are spiritually supported.
They’re still looking to bring God and the faith to people who are exhausted by caring for the sick.
This ministry also extends to families of patients, who can’t visit their loved ones for safety reasons.
One of those chaplains, Father Radu Titonea, from Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Forest Hills, Queens, joins Currents News to share what the day-to-day activities are like at this time.
‘A Medical Warzone,’ Brooklyn Hospital Calls for Supplies in Fight Against Virus
By Tim Harfmann
The intensive care unit at Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, is at capacity.
Patient beds now line the hallways of the emergency department. Every corridor, every corner and every ward in the hospital are now inundated with those suffering from the virus.
“This is a warzone, a medical warzone,” explained Dr. Arabia Mollette, who works in the emergency room at the hospital. “Every day I come, what I see on a daily basis is pain, despair, suffering and healthcare disparities.”
Through March 29, Brookdale said it had at least 100 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with nearly 80 awaiting confirmation.
More than 20 people have so far died from the disease.
“We are scared too. We are fighting for your lives and we’re fighting for our own lives too. We’re trying to keep our head above water and not drown,” said Dr. Mollette.
The staff’s facing a rising tide of cases, and are in dire need of supplies and spiritual strength.
“We need prayer, we need support, we need gowns, we need gloves, we need masks,” said Dr. Mollette. “We need more vents, we need more medical space, we need psychosocial support as well. It’s not easy coming in here when you know that’s what you’re getting ready to face.”
Brookdale needs more of everything.
The hospital has 370 beds, but they’d like to add many more, expecting the pandemic to get worse.
“I don’t really sleep that well at night. I worry about my family. I worry about my safety,” Dr. Mollette added. “I worry about my colleagues. I worry about how the shift is going to be the next time I come.”
She says this is a marathon that healthcare workers alone cannot win, or even finish.
“This is why we are begging everyone to not just put that pressure on the emergency department, but also for everyone to help us by staying home,” she urged.
Dr. Mollette says this will take everyone pulling together. The worst days, she fears, are still ahead.
New York Healthcare Workers Get Big ‘Thank You’ From Catholic Artist
By Emily Drooby
A sign of thanks has appeared outside what’s become the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in Queens’ Elmhurst Hospital.
It’s the work of local Catholic artist Scott LoBaido.
They’re “the two simplest words in the universe that mean so much: thank you,” he explained.
“Would I want to go in there and hug them all and bring them pizza?” he asked. “I don’t know if i’m allowed in there, so why not use my art to give that big giant thank you to them.”
He’s been creating sculptures out of foam insulation boards and putting them outside of hospitals on Staten Island, bringing the idea here to Elmhurst after hearing how hard the hospital has been hit by the coronavirus.
“See that makes their day, that means the world to me,” he said.
It’s a beacon of hope for those working on the frontlines.
“To see them come out with this big smile on their face or tears in their eyes just saying, ‘thank you,’ thanking me, I’m like, “No, no, no, this is thank you. Just say, ‘you’re welcome,’ no thanking me. I’m just one man representing how the community feels.”
Scott is accepting donations, but has been taking on a majority of the $500 cost per sculpture himself.
He hopes to continue to spread a message of thanks throughout all of New York City. He will be putting similar signs in front of hospitals in all of the boroughs.