Dozens of residents of a Belgian retirement village have reportedly died of coronavirus as a volunteer Santa Claus who visited the facility tested positive for the disease.
Saint Nicholas visited the Hemelrijck House in Mol on 5 December in an event organized by the management of the facility, and days later many residents started showing COVID-19 symptoms, reports The Guardian.
WZC Hemelrijck, a parental home in Mol, Belgium, on Monday 14 December 2020. (ERIC LALMAND / BELGA MAG / AFP via Getty Images)
In addition to 26 deaths, 85 residents and 40 staff members tested positive for the virus, the report said.
SANTA VISITS Nursing Home in BELGIUM TRONERS CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK OF AT LEAST 75 INFECTIONS
The municipality of Mols exploded the opportunity after photos came to light showing that residents are without masks.
“We regret that after looking at several photos we have to conclude that it goes much further than a mistake,” the Mols municipality said in a statement to the Guardian.
“This is rather an irresponsible event. We would never have approved of it,” the municipality said.
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The cause of the outbreak is not certain and a formal investigation has not been launched, the report said.
This article first appeared in the New York Post.