Almost 160 people linked to a care home in Belgium may have been infected with Covid-19, with 18 succumbing to the disease, after a “stupid” visit by a volunteer dressed as Santa Claus, who turned out to be a carrier.
The tragedy struck Hemelrijck, a large assisted-living facility in the Mol municipality, which serves as a home to 169 elderly residents. The virus spread through it like wildfire, affecting 121 residents and 36 staff and claiming 18 lives in three weeks. A lot of anger has been directed at the management of the care home, who were accused of misleading the public in an effort to contain the scandal.


When 2020 passes into the history books, it will carry more superlatives than a high school yearbook — and none of them good. Most deadly, hottest, most stressful, worst.
