Britain’s Jewish community has been hit hard by Covid-19. Three more British Jews were laid to rest last week after dying from coronavirus, the highest number in a single week for several months. This brings the UK Jewish death toll from the disease to more than 500. It’s clear that our small community of 280,000 or so has suffered greatly during this pandemic. Yet this misery is also being compounded in another way – by the covid conspiracy theories inevitably pinning the blame for this illness on Jews.
Why so many British Jews have died from this illness is not clear. Is it because we tend to live in large cities where there is more social interaction? Is it because British Jews tend to be older than the population at large? Is it because many in the ultra-Orthodox community live in cramped conditions in areas of socio-economic deprivation? All and none of these factors might be the explanation.
But what isn’t up for debate is the cold, hard fact that British Jews have lost loved ones in disproportionate numbers.
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