A man dressed as Santa Claus who made a visit to a Belgian care home may have caused more than 75 COVID-19 infections and at least one death.
The care home located in Mol, Belgium, released a statement on Saturday that said they made an “error in judgment” after 61 elderly residents and 14 staff members tested positive for the virus following the visit.
One resident who had been receiving palliative care died, while another experiencing severe symptoms is being given oxygen therapy inside the facility. Most who were infected are not showing symptoms and appear to be doing well, according to CNN.
The man dressed as Santa, who is the son of a resident, tested positive for the virus shortly after the visit. The municipality said he wasn’t feeling sick at the time, but the visit did not receive prior approval from the facility.
“It was made with the best intent, but it went wrong. It has been a very black day for the care home. It is a very great mental strain to bear for the man that played Saint Nicholas, as well as for the organisers and the staff,” Mol’s mayor, Wim Caeyers, told VRT News.
Belgium has recorded more than 600,000 cases of coronavirus, and more than 17,000 deaths have been attributed to COVID-19. The European country has a population of roughly 11.5 million.
Worldwide, the coronavirus has infected more than 72 million people and killed more than 1.5 million.
