Santa Claus likely delivered the gift of COVID-19 to at least 75 residents and staff of a nursing home in Mol, Belgium. One person who was already receiving palliative care has died while another is struggling with severe symptoms. Fortunately, most others aren't yet exhibiting symptoms of infection. According to city officials, the managers of the care home made an "error in judgement." From CNN:
The man who played Sinterklaas, who is the son of a resident, tested positive for coronavirus after his visit.
He "was not feeling sick at the time of the visit" and "the activity was not cleared beforehand with the crisis center, otherwise negative advice would have been given," the municipality said[…]
"Contrary to reports in the media, St. Nicholas did not visit every room. The management reassures us that the saint only visited common areas, including the seating areas," the municipality said.
"The saint maintained distance at all times from the residents, and didn't remain in any area longer than a few minutes. The saint did not hand out presents."
image: manipulation of original photo "Sinterklaas, Netherlands" by Sander van der Wel (CC BY-SA 2.0) This isn't the superspreader Santa described above.
_(2).jpg){kind=link}