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BRUSSELS (AFP) – At least 26 residents of a Belgian retirement home have died since the visit of a volunteer dressed as Santa Claus who has since tested positive for Covid-19.
A Flemish health official told AFP on Thursday (December 31) that it is not yet certain whether it was the visitor who brought the coronavirus to Hemelrijck’s home in Mol on December 5.
But 26 residents have died since the visit, and 85 more have tested positive for the coronavirus, along with 40 employees.
The outbreak was detected a few days after the visit, and prominent virologist Marc Van Ranst reported on Twitter that most of the infections came from the same source.
The white-bearded, red-robed Sinterklaas figure, the equivalent of Santa Claus from the English-speaking world, brings gifts to Belgians every December 6.
However, this year’s festivities have been marred by the coronavirus pandemic, which has hit Belgium particularly hard, especially in its nursing homes.
No investigation has been launched in the absence of a formal complaint, regional health spokesman Joris Moonens said, and there is no indication the volunteer knew he was infected.
But a crisis manager has been appointed for Hemelrijck, which was home to 169 people before the Covid outbreak, to help staff, residents and family members get through “this difficult period.”
Belgium has one of the highest per capita coronavirus death rates in the world and more than half of the deceased (11,066 people) were retirement home residents.
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