The covid-19 pandemic killed 26 residents in a retirement home in Belgium, following the visit of a volunteer dressed as Santa Claus who apparently was unaware of being contaminated, informed on Thursday health sources and the establishment itself.
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The Hemelrijck Retirement Home, located in Mol, in the province of Ambers, where 169 people lived in early December, now has 85 positive cases of covid-19 among residents and another 40 infected among staff, point out to AFP an official of the establishment, who requested anonymity.
On December 5, the retreat organized the visit of a volunteer dressed as Santa Claus, to encourage the elderly and give them various gifts. A few days later this person released a positive result for coronavirus.
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Belgian virologist expert Marc Van Ranst had noted that most infected people in the nursing home had been infected “by the same source.”
traditionally Santa Claus – or Sinterklaas – distributes gifts in Belgium every December 6th.
Meanwhile, a spokesman for the health agency in the Flemish region of Belgium, Joris Moonens, noted that at the moment “there is no certainty” that Santa Claus has been the source of the infection, nor is there any evidence that the volunteer was aware that it was contaminated.
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However, the outbreak was detected a few days after Santa’s visit, and fears were consolidated when it was learned that the volunteer actually threw a positive result in an examination.
Elder recesses in Belgium were severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
The country has one of the highest balances of fatalities per capita in the world, and it is estimated that more than half of the deaths were elderly people residing in such establishments.
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