At least 26 residents of the Belgian retirement home have died since a visit by a volunteer wearing a Santa Claus costume who has since tested positive. Covid-19. A Flemish health official told AFP Thursday that it is not certain after the visitor brought the Corona virus to Hemilrejk’s home in the Mall on December 5.
But 26 residents have died since the visit, and 85 others have been confirmed infected with the Coronavirus, along with 40 employees.
The An outbreak is detected A few days after the visit, prominent virologist Mark Van Ranst stated on Twitter that most of the infections came from the same source.
The white-bearded, red-bearded Sinterklaas, the equivalent of Santa Claus in the English-speaking world, brings gifts to the Belgians every December 6.
Photo by Eric LALMAND / BELGA / AFP via Getty Images
But this year’s celebrations were overshadowed by the coronavirus pandemic, which has hit Belgium in particular, especially in homes for the elderly.
Regional health spokesperson Joris Monens said that in the absence of a formal complaint, no investigation has opened, and there is no indication that the volunteer knew he was infected.
But a crisis manager for Hemelrijck – which housed 169 people before the COVID outbreak – has been appointed to help employees, residents and relatives cope with “this difficult period”.
Belgium has one of the highest rates of coronavirus deaths per person in the world, and more than half of the dead – 11,066 people – were retirement homes.
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