The Mol municipality in the Flanders region said in a statement Saturday that the care home had “erred in judgment” in allowing the visit.
The municipality said it would require “in-depth scientific research” to confirm whether the visit was the cause of the explosion at the Hemelrijk care home, so far 61 residents and 14 staff have tested positive.
A resident who had already received immunization treatment has died, and another resident with severe symptoms is being given oxygen treatment inside a care home, the municipality said. The “majority” of the victims functioned well and showed no symptoms.
The man, who played Cinderella, the son of a resident, tested positive for the corona virus after his arrival.
The municipality said he was “in poor health at the time of the visit” and that “the operation with the crisis center had not already been cleared, otherwise negative advice would have been given”.
The care home operator has approached Harmonia for the CNN concept home.
“Contrary to reports in the media, St. Nicholas did not visit every room. The administration assures us that he only visited the common areas, including the places where the monk sits,” the municipality said.
“The monk maintained a distance from the residents at all times. He was not in any area for more than a few minutes. The monk did not give gifts.”
Belgium has been hit hard by the epidemic. According to Johns Hopkins University, there are 608,137 corona virus cases and 17,951 deaths in 11.5 million people nationwide.
At the end of October, the pressure on the health service was so great that health workers at some hospitals in Liege, Belgium’s third-largest city, were asked to continue working even if they tested positive for Covit-19 – showing no signs of illness until they were gone.