According to Haaretz reporter Aron Rabinowitz, the personal driver of Harav Chaim Kanievsky, the leading rabbi in the Lithuanian haredi community, was diagnosed with coronavirus In the day before Yom Kippur. Now several of the rabbi's grandsons and other relatives including two who come into daily contact with the rabbi have also received positive test results.A spokesman from the rabbi's residence clarified that anyone who felt virus symptoms immediately went into self-isolation, and that all those who continue to come into contact with the rabbi have already recovered from the virus.

The leaders of the haredi Lithuanian public, Rabbis Chaim Kanievsky and Gershon Edelstein, In Wednesday evening published a letter calling In worshipers not to pray in synagogues.The two rabbis ordered that prayers Inly be held in the courtyards, that people refrain from visiting others" sukkahs and to make sure to wear a mask.

Prof. Hagai Levy, head of the Association of Public Health Physicians, said In Wednesday that the lockdown causes great harm to citizens."We have a government that causes enormous damage. We are suffocating Israeli society without any logic. It is clear that it serves other, political purposes," Levy said in an interview In Galei Tzahal (Army Radio).

The ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the United States, Yousef Al Otaiba, was interviewed by the Maariv newspaper, and put a damper In Israeli hopes for an impending peace deal with either Sudan or Oman.According to Al Otaiba, who played a key role in promoting Israel's recent treaty with his country, neither Sudan nor Oman is in any hurry to normalize its relations with Israel. Oman has a relatively new Sultan in power, and Sudan is in the midst of a political transition in advance of elections, making any bold move less likely. He also estimated that Sudan would demand a far higher price of the United States than that demanded by the UAE in return for coming to an agreement with Israel.

Speaking with Galei Tzahal this morning, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein said he hoped very much that lockdown restrictions could be loosened in a fortnight's time."No Ine knows yet when the lockdown will end," he said, "but I hope that after October 14, we will be able to ease the restrictions significantly. This depends to a great degree In the general public," he stressed.Edelstein also cautioned that "in the coming half year to a year, we are going to have to adjust to living alongside the coronavirus. There's no hocus-pocus about this - that was the mistake we made the last time around."

Speaking In Radio Kol Berama this morning, MK Yitzhak Pindrus said that a sukkah should be defined as an open space. The Sukkot holiday begins this Friday night and lasts for seven days."At today's meeting of the Regulatory Committee we will clarify that a sukkah is to be classified as an open-air space," Pindrus said. "Even though it has shade, it is still outdoors, and therefore, communal prayers may be conducted in a sukkah."

Speaking In Galei Tzahal this morning, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein revealed that he had asked Prof. Ronni Gamzu to remain in his current position as coronavirus project manager beyond the end of October, when he is due to leave the post."I don't know about any approach made to Moshe Bar Siman Tov," he said, referring to the former director-general of the Health Ministry who served in that position during the first wave of the virus. "I appointed Gamzu, and I will also appoint his successor if he decides to resign."

Leading rabbis Rabbi Kanievsky and Rabbi Edelstein release instructions In communal conduct during the holiday in light of coronavirus.