Belgian authorities say about 80 elderly people have died in one coronavirus outbreak in a retirement home in super-diffusion of the feast of St. Nick last month, but expect the situation to be under control now.
Hemelrijck’s house in the northern Belgian city of Mol had organized a visit on December 4 by a company that performed the beloved saint who usually spreads joys and gifts. But the city and the families of some of the deceased have complained that the nursing home should never have hosted the party when there were restrictive measures on events across the country to contain the pandemic.
The municipality of Mol said that “the event was not coordinated with the crisis cell” and, if they had heard it before, they would have stopped it.
The municipality said 27 people had died.
At the Hemelrijck nursing home, no one was available for comment on Friday. At the last count, the household had 88 infections among residents and 42 among staff.
Lily Lenaerts, whose sister Angele, 85, was the first to die after the outbreak, is upset by how the nursing home treats family members.
Photo by ERIC LALMAND / BELGA / AFP via Getty Images
“I have not yet received a condolence card (from the nursing home) and have been visiting for four years,” he told Het Laatste Nieuws.
St. Nicholas is the traditional day of December 6 to make gifts and is much more important for children in Belgium than Santa Claus on December 25, which is mainly a family reunion.
Initially, it was thought that one of the actors in the group St. Nick was the source of the outbreak, but further investigation could not be completely conclusive.
The eminent virologist from Belgium, Marc Van Ranst, said that “it cannot be said with the 100% certainty that he was introduced into the nursing home.” He added that “the man was a volunteer in the nursing home and could theoretically have been infected by a resident or staff member.”
The city said the outbreak has finally stabilized.
“The health status of residents has shown remarkable improvement,” the city said in a statement.
Belgium, a nation of 11.5 million, has been hit hard by the pandemic with 19,528 confirmed virus deaths so far, many of them in residences.