Jewish Education Center employee tested positive for coronavirus

CLEVELAND, Ohio — One of the three people who tested positive for the novel coronavirus, known as COVID-19, in Ohio is a male employee of the Jewish Education Center of Cleveland.

The Cleveland Jewish News first reported the news.

“We can confirm that a Jewish Education Center staff person has tested positive for the coronavirus. This individual is now quarantined,” the Jewish Federation of Cleveland said in a statement March 9. “As a precaution, the Jewish offices will be closed for two weeks. In the meantime, we will continue to work closely with our local beneficiary agencies - and in concert with the Cuyahoga County Board of Health - to address concerns and care for our community members.”

“Out of respect to the privacy of the community members, we are not making any additional comments,” the Jewish Federation of Cleveland said in a statement today.

The Jewish Federation of Cleveland is closed today. A message for callers says, “Our office is closed on Tuesday, March 10 but staff will be working remotely as we assess the impact of potential exposure to coronavirus.”

During a press conference March 9 at City Hall, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson and local health officials said the three people who tested positive for COVID-19 were from Cuyahoga County. None live in Cleveland.

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Two people were on a cruise in Egypt, and the other was at an American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference in Washington, D.C. All are aged 54-56. Two cases involve men, and the other case involves a woman.

The AIPAC conference, which ran March 1-3, also was attended by a number of local students from local Jewish schools, including Fuchs Mizrachi School, a private school in Beachwood.

During the city-county press conference, health officials said only six people who had been in close contact with the three local people with COVID-19 had been asked to self-quarantine.

In an email Rabbi Avery Joel, head of school at Fuchs Mizrachi School, sent to the families of students, he said some students had been in close contact with one of the people who tested positive for COVID-19 and that those students had been asked to self-quarantine until March 17, according to Cleveland Jewish News.

Four Hawken Upper School students students who traveled on the bus to AIPIAC with the the man who tested positive have also been asked to self-quarantine, according to an email from the school. Headmaster D. Scott Looney. He said none of the parents or siblings of the students were told to self-quarantine.

“We will be working with the students to support their remaining coursework this week as we head into spring break,” Looney wrote. Hawken students are scheduled to be on spring break for two weeks, starting March 14.

There are now four confirmed cases of COVID-19 among AIPAC attendees: one in Cuyahoga County, one in Los Angeles and two from New York.

Last week, AIPAC attendees were told to follow CDC guidelines, which calls for those who are feeling sick to stay home and to notify a health care provider if they’re experiencing symptoms, DC Health said.

Some groups and schools that participated in the conference are urging attendees to self-quarantine “out of an abundance of caution," while others are not.

COVID-19 is a respiratory illness with symptoms similar to those of the flu — fever, cough and shortness of breath — that has sickened thousands and killed 3,800 in China, according to the World Health Organization. There is not yet a vaccine for COVID-19, nor are there any medications approved to treat it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Latest COVID-19 statistics, as of 11 p.m. Monday:

Countries, territories and areas with confirmed cases: 105

U.S. states reporting cases: 35

Total cases in U.S.: 423

Total deaths in U.S.: 19

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