A COVID-19 outbreak at a care home in Mol, a municipality in Belgium's northern Antwerp province, triggered by a celebration of Saint Nicholas Day, has killed at least 23 people, Mayor Wim Caeyers said
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th December, 2020) A COVID-19 outbreak at a care home in Mol, a municipality in Belgium's northern Antwerp province, triggered by a celebration of Saint Nicholas Day, has killed at least 23 people, Mayor Wim Caeyers said.
At least 125 residents of the care home contracted COVID-19 after December 6, when Saint Nicholas Day was celebrated. Local authorities suspect that a coronavirus-positive volunteer dressed as Saint Nicholas may have caused the outbreak. Initially, the media reported that the death toll was 18.
"Five more people who tested positive for the coronavirus died, so a total of 23 people died," Caeyers said on Sunday, as quoted by Belgium's Belga news agency.
The care home claims that the volunteer was wearing gloves and a face mask during the celebration of Saint Nicholas Day.
It is also known that the volunteer has visited the care home in the past, and may have contracted COVID-19 during one of such visits.
Belgium has managed to reduce the coronavirus infection rate and the country has been reporting less than 2,500 cases a day on average in late December, down from over 20,000 in late October. The authorities have expressed concerns that a period of festivities may reverse the downward trend.
