Belgian authorities say a 27-year-old died in one coronavirus hearth at a nursing home in a St. Nick’s superb party last month, but hopes the situation is now under control.
The Hemelrijck House in the northern Belgian town of Mol hosted a visit on December 4 by a band that plays the holy lover who usually spreads merriment and gifts. But the city and the families of some of the dead complained that the nursing home should not have hosted the party when restrictive measures were taken on events across the country to counter the pandemic.
The municipality of Mol said that “the event was not coordinated with the crisis cell” and, if it had heard before, it would have stopped it.
The municipality said the 27th person died.
At the Hemelrijck nursing home, no one was available for comment on Friday. At the last issue, the house had 88 infections among residents and 42 among staff.
Lily Lenaerts, whose 85-year-old sister Angele was the first to die after the outbreak, is upset by the way 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,” she told Het Laatste Nieuws.
Saint Nicholas is the traditional day of December 6 to give gifts and is much more important for children in Belgium than Santa Claus on December 25, which is primarily a family gathering.
Initially, one of the actors of the group St. Nick had been considered the source of the outbreak, but further research could not be fully conclusive.
The eminent Belgian virologist, Marc Van Ranst, said that “it cannot be said with 100% certainty that he introduced him to the care home”. He added that “the man was a volunteer in the care home and could theoretically have been infected by a resident or staff member.”
The city said the outbreak has finally stabilized.
“The health of the residents has shown a significant improvement,” the city said in a statement.
Belgium, a nation of 11.5 million people, has been severely affected by the pandemic, with 19,528 confirmed deaths from the virus so far, many of them in nursing homes.