NYC Professor Tests Positive For Coronavirus, School Says

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — A Yeshiva University professor with ties to the student diagnosed with new coronavirus earlier this week has also tested positive for the virus, school officials said Friday.

Rabbi Reuven Fink, who teaches two undergraduate classes at the Washington Heights campus, tested positive for the virus after recently self-quarantining himself because of contact with another confirmed coronavirus case, according to an alert on the university website.

Fink leads the Young Israel of New Rochelle congregation, where a lawyer who became the second coronavirus case with ties to New York City attended.

Three members of the lawyer's family, including his son who is a Yeshiva University student, have also tested positive for coronavirus, along with a neighbor who drove the 50-year-old attorney to the hospital.

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School officials, who canceled classes earlier this week, said Friday they have taken more precautions since learning about the professor's diagnosis.

"We have reached out to his students and recommended as a precautionary measure to self-quarantine until further notice," President Dr. Ari Berman said in the alert. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Rabbi Fink for a full and speedy recovery."

There have been four cases of people being treated for coronavirus in New York City, two of which — a woman in her 80s and man in his 40s — were announced Thursday morning.

The Midtown lawyer hospitalized at New York Presbyterian-Columbia Medical Center and a 39-year-old health care worker who is recovering in isolation in her Manhattan apartment are the other two.

So far, there are 122 people under investigation for the virus in the entire state and 24 cases are pending results, according to the state Department of Health. A total of 21 New York residents have tested positive in the state.

Update: There are now 33 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the state as of Friday afternoon, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo. 11 new tests came back positive since Thursday, all of which were connected to the New Rochelle attorney.