Visit of a Covid-infected Santa to a care home in Belgium kills 18 residents after 121 fell ill in an outbreak
- Santa was welcomed in a care home of 150 inhabitants in the city of Mol, Antwerp
- Three days after he tested positive for Covid-19, anxiety developed in the nursing home
- Santa would be full of remorse, mayor calls house ‘totally irresponsible’
About 18 nursing home residents have since died of the corona virus after an infected Santa Claus visited Belgium.
Sinterklaas and his black-faced helpers, known as Zwarte Piet, infected 121 residents and 36 staff in the Hemelrijck care center in Mol, Antwerp earlier this month.
Photos of the man dressed as Saint Nicholas surfaced two weeks ago and the ‘superspreader’ has since been blamed for the rising death toll in the house.
Five more elderly residents died on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day and at least one was treated with oxygen.
Santa got sick and tested positive for Covid-19 three days after his visit, prompting health officials to begin testing at home.
The volunteer dressed as Sinterklaas was welcomed to spread the Christmas spirit among the 150 residents of the Hemelrijck nursing home in Mol, Antwerp (photo: residents enjoy mulled wine and oranges while Santa Claus and his Zwarte Piet helpers visit the house)
The house had claimed that social distance was perceived, but Santa Claus was in the picture standing very close to the older residents
Santa and his helpers chat with residents of the nursing home. His helpers are dressed in black and dressed as Zwarte Piet, a controversial traditional character in the Netherlands and parts of Belgium
Mayor of Mol Wim Caeyers told the local media: ‘We expect ten difficult days. It has been a very black day for the nursing home.
“It is a very great mental burden for the man who played Sinterklaas, but also for the organizers and the staff.”
But photos of the event showed that not all residents were wearing masks and that Santa and his little helpers were within six feet of the elderly.
Mr. Caeyers said, “Initially [the care home] said the rules had been followed, but then you immediately get pictures of residents’ families where you can see that it wasn’t. ‘
His administration calls the nursing home ‘a totally irresponsible organization’.
The mayor said it will be “all hands on deck” to get the virus under control, with help from local health workers, the Red Cross and the governor of Antwerp, following the crisis talks on Sunday.
A spokesman for Armonea, the firm that runs the house, said: “The team is very shocked by what happened, but that also makes them very motivated to get the virus out again.”
However, one of the top virologists in Belgium has expressed doubts that the Santa volunteer could have caused so many infections.
Marc Van Ranst, from KU Leuven University, said: ‘Even for a superspreader, these are too many infections at once.’
Santa talks to an elderly resident. He and his helper appear to be closer than six feet from her
Hemelrijck nursing home in Mol, Antwerp, which is run by the firm Armonea
Belgium registered an increase in the number of daily infections in recent days, 2,762 on Saturday and another 4,978 on Sunday
He believes that poor ventilation is much more likely to be the cause and that CO2 measurements should be taken by local health officials.
Nonetheless, he added that it was a ‘stupid idea’ to visit Santa during the pandemic.
Belgium has the worst deaths from coronavirus per million inhabitants in the world.
The country registered 2,342 new cases of coronavirus on Christmas Day, of which 51 died from the