COVID-19: 'Super-spreader' Santa infects 75 people at Belgian care home

A Santa Claus is being blamed for “super-spreading” COVID-19 after he left nearly 75 care home residents and staff infected with the deadly virus in Belgium. According to SkyNews, Sinterklaas and his helpers were welcomed at the Hemelrijck care home in Mol, Antwerp, in a bid to spread Christmas cheer among the 150 residents. However, the Santa is now being blamed for infecting 61 elderly residents and another 14 staff members. 

The authorities in Mol are investigating the incident. They said that the man, who was dressed as St Nicolas, fell ill and tested positive for the deadly virus, casing authorities to begin testing residents in the home. Now, at least one of the residents have been treated with oxygen. 

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Mol Mayor calls care home ‘irresponsible’ 

While speaking to a local media outlet, Mayor of Mol, Wim Caeyers called the incident a “black day for the care home”. He said that 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. Caeyers said that initially, the care home had said that the rules had been followed, however, the pictures that he received later showed that “that wasn’t the case”. 

Caeyers’ administration called the care home a “totally irresponsible organisation”. The mayor said that it will all hands on deck to bring the virus under control, with local health workers, the Red Cross and the Governor of Antwerp helping, following the crisis talks on Sunday. 

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A spokesman for Armonea, the company which manages the care home, said that the team is very shocked by what happened, but he also added that the incident makes them very motivated as well to get the virus out again. One of Belgium’s top virologist further expressed his doubts that the Santa Claus volunteers could have caused so many infections. Marc Van Ranst of KU Leuven university said that even for a “super-spreader,” these are too many infections at once. 

Ranst believes that poor ventilation is much more likely the cause and that Co2 measurements should be taken by the local health officials. He added that having Santa visit during the pandemic was a “stupid idea”. Meanwhile, according to reports, Belgium has the worst COVID deaths per million of its population in the world. The country recently has recorded an increase in the number of daily infections and in the last week there was also an increase of around three per cent compared to the week before. 

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