Subj : FidoGazette Vol 14 no 38 Page: 2 To : All From : Janis Kracht Date : Wed Dec 09 2020 20:55:44 ================================================================ Santa Claus is Coming to Town. Try not to infect him ================================================================ Santa Claus is coming to town. Try not to infect him. By Maura Judkis The pandemic has made Santa Claus a public health hazard. Against the explicit advice of the health officials, he visits homes and malls that put him in contact with many people. That long beard probably renders any mask porous and ineffective. His workshop is full of elves making toys in close quarters. Though spry, he is elderly, putting him at personal risk of developing a severe case (8 out of 10 coronavirus-related deaths in the United States have been adults ages 65 and older). His body mass index has been described as "a bowl full of jelly" (researchers have found an association between a BMI over 40 and higher covid-19 death rates, particularly among men). "Santa's safe," Mitch Allen has been telling families. Allen, a Santa Claus performer and owner of HireSanta.com, a Santa staffing agency, explains that St. Nick has been "quarantining at the North Pole." Okay. But with coronavirus cases and deaths persisting at jaw-dropping levels, children who want to convey their Christmas wishes directly (who can rely on the mail these days, anyway?), but donCÇÖt want to kill Santa or be infected by him, will have to do so through a plexiglass divider, or an inflatable plastic bubble, or a computer screen. [...] Read the full article here: https://tinyurl.com/yy9msjav or https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/santa-covid-christmas/ 2020/12/08/2d6a4e68-25e5-11eb-a688-5298ad5d580a_story.html [wraps] FIDOGAZETTE Vol 14 No 38 Page 2 December 09, 2020 ----------------------------------------------------------------- --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5 * Origin: Prism bbs (1:261/38) .