Santa will be spreading lots of joy — not COVID-19 — when he visits millions of homes this Christmas.
That’s because Kris Kringle is immune to coronavirus, according to the nation’s top infectious disease expert.
“Santa is exempt from this because Santa, of all the good qualities, has a lot of good innate immunity,” Dr. Anthony Fauci told USA Today.
That’s good news for the most elusive man in the world, who’d be considered high-risk for a serious case of COVID with his global travels, obesity issues and history of smoking. Santa’s staggering age — 1,750 — wouldn’t help either with the bug inordinately affecting those 60 and older.
But rest assured, one of the worst global health crises ever won’t keep Santa down.
“Santa is not going to be spreading any infections to anybody,” Fauci said.
Thankfully, Santa’s little helpers have been busy warding off the virus in the North Pole, according to Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston.
“I hear the ventilation in Santa’s workshop is not the best, and opening windows in North Pole winters problematic,” Hotez told USA Today. “The good news is that mask compliance there is pretty good, and the elves are committed to social distancing. Mrs. Claus has implemented a program of regular testing and the reindeers now lead contact tracing.”
Christmas outside of the comforts — and safety — of home will look a bit different this year, though. Santa is forgoing his usual holiday tradition of visits at Macy’s in Herald Square, but he will be making many virtual appearances instead.