A man dressed up in Santa Claus costume to spread a Christmas joy allegedly turned a super spreader of COVID-19, leaving 75 people infected during a care home visit in Belgium.
The incident recently happened in Mol, Antwerp where Hemelrijck care home residents and staff members warmly welcomed a Santa.
According to reports, the man who dressed up as Santa fell ill and tested positive for COVID-19. Officials immediately made mandatory testing among the staff members and the residents. Among the 150 residents, 61 residents and 14 staff members tested positive of the virus, with one required an oxygen support for breathing. Other infected individuals suffered mild to moderate symptoms.
Although the care home claimed that they made it mandatory for residents and staff to wear face masks, but photos from the event showed that not all the residents wore masks.
“It was made with the best intent, but it went wrong. It has been a very dark day for the care home. It is a very great mental strain to bear for the man that played Saint Nicholas, as well as for the organisers and the staff,” Mol's mayor, Wim Caeyers, told Belgian news organisation VRT News.
"Initially they 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," he added.
Meanwhile, Belgium has endured the second wave of the coronavirus infections, with more than 41,600 active cases with a total of 17,951 deaths.
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