NEW YORK (VINnews) — A visit by a volunteer dressed as Santa Claus has apparently led to a huge outbreak of coronavirus in a Belgian care home in Mol,Antwerp, leaving 121 residents and 36 health care workers infected and 18 dead from the virus, according to a report in the British newspaper Daily Mail.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
Santa Claus, or Sinterklass as he is known in Belgium, with his helpers dressed up as Zwarte Piet (Black Pete) , a Dutch character who supposedly assists Santa Claus in his duties, visited the care home earlier this month in order to cheer up residents. The home claimed that social distancing was strictly observed but pictures from the visit show Santa and his assistants standing very close to residents.
Santa and Black Pete with residents at the home
Three days later Santa tested positive for COVID-19 and the care home, which immediately started testing residents for the virus, has since seen a rising number of infections and deaths, with the Santa Claus character dubbed a ‘superspreader’ and blamed for the subsequent infections and deaths.
Five more elderly residents died over Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and at least one was treated with oxygen.
The Mayor of Mol, Wim Caeyers, told local media: ‘We’re expecting up to ten difficult days. It has been a very black day for the care home.
‘It is a very great mental strain to bear for the man that played St Nicholas, as well as for the organisers and the staff.’
Mr Caeyers said: ‘Initially the care home said that the rules had been followed, but then straight away you receive photos from the families of residents where you can see that this wasn’t the case.’
His administration has called the care home ‘a totally irresponsible organization.’
A spokesman for Armonea, the firm which manages the home, said: ‘The team is very shocked by what happened, but that also makes them very motivated to get the virus out again.’
One of Belgium’s top virologists, however, expressed doubts that the Santa Claus volunteer could have caused so many infections.
Marc Van Ranst, of KU Leuven university, said: ‘Even for a super-spreader, these are too many infections at once.’
He believes that poor ventilation is much more likely the cause and that CO2 measurements should be taken by the local health officials. Nonetheless, he added that having Santa visit during the pandemic was a ‘stupid idea.’
Belgium has the highest number of coronavirus deaths per million of its population in the world, with some 1,650 deaths per million from COVID-19.
Who would have ever thought that Santa was a super spreader.
So masks do help
such an antisemitic country as belgium lately, can’t cry for them