A JERUSALEM ISRAELI’S FIRST-HAND ACCOUNT ON THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

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Logo of Mobileye Intel, an Israel safe-driving startup. Courtesy Jonathan Trauner ’16

When the Covid-19 virus first arrived in Jerusalem Israel two weeks ago, my workplace Mobileye Intel, a global safe-driving startup, cancelled work days and shut doors indefinitely. I celebrated the Jewish holiday of Purim again in Jerusalem for the third straight year with my Israeli family members however, for the first time, in all of the years that I have celebrated the holiday of Purim, I could not even listen to the Torah’s Megillah Esther readings of my Jerusalem Israel synagogue community of Kol Haneshama of Baka Jerusalem since global groups from abroad (potential covid-19 carriers) typically attend our holiday services. I also have had to enter quarantine in my home for at a week at minimum even though I did not test positive for the virus and no one else at Mobileye tested positive with Covid-19.

Throughout my experiences hearing of Covid-19, I have remained fully calm and precautious. However, in my Israeli-Aunt Mrs. Mira Zada’s Jerusalem Israel home neighborhood a French and Israeli Jewish religious synagogue community called Or Tziyon was forced to completely shut their doors after a synagogue member contracted Covid-19 from Europe. At home, I followed all the statistics of Israel. Right now, more than four thousand Israelis have reported they tested positive for the coronavirus and at least fifteen Israelis have passed away due to the virus.

 I am happy to announce to Goucher’s Alumnae and Alumni Association and Goucher Hillel’s Alumnae/i Association, both organizations of which I am a member, that the majority of our Covid-19 cases have been fully contained, and that the majority of our Covid-19 patients we will continue treating will make a full recovery. The city of Jerusalem Israel will defeat the coronavirus epidemic outbreak and contain it. As Jerusalem has survived thousands of years of war and adversity, I have endless faith as an Israeli and Jerusalemite that we will defeat and eradicate the Coronavirus and that the world will know love and peace every-where we go. Only through love and togetherness, can our world collectively defeat Covid-19, contain the virus, and return to normal life as seamlessly and as easily as possible.

Alumni Submission from Jonathan Trauner ’16

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