key: cord-0682997-48rjvlaa authors: Wormser, Gary P. title: Impact of COVID-19 on Christmas date: 2020-10-30 journal: Wien Klin Wochenschr DOI: 10.1007/s00508-020-01765-z sha: 1ac34755a3fc706c224b90aa3d967f8115d03524 doc_id: 682997 cord_uid: 48rjvlaa nan When entering homes in either scenario, should Santa wear a face mask to protect against inhaling the virus? If so, should it be an N95 mask or just a surgical mask? That question is easy to answer since Santa's beard would preclude proper fit testing for the N95 mask. Should he wear a face shield? Santa will be touching the Christmas stockings and the plates with the cookies and the glasses with the milk left for him in the USA. Should he wear gloves and put on new gloves for each home he visits? Should he use hand sanitizer after each visit? Should he be concerned about fecal-oral spread to him of COVID-19 when he consumes the snack left for him, a highly controversial and unlikely mode of transmission? Will Santa potentially contaminate household objects with COVID-19 picked up in one home and then brought to other homes? Indeed, might this consideration make some families hesitant to have Santa visit this year? A more practical issue is whether Santa will even be allowed to travel across countries or across state lines in the USA. Or will he be required to self-quarantine for 14 days when traveling from say Florida to New York State? In addition, will Santa be required to test negative for COVID-19 RNA on 23 December 2020 in order to begin his journey? Does COVID-19 testing even exist on the North Pole? Should Santa not enter homes in 2020 at all but instead deliver the gifts to the curbside (i.e., curbside delivery)? Or should Santa contract out with a professional delivery organization to deliver his presents this year? Should Santa's visit be virtual rather than in-person, with presents instead delivered by mail? Whether using a professional delivery service or the regular mail, there will be financial costs not incurred in previous years. Does Santa have the funds to pay for these services? Or should Christmas just be postponed? The questions raised above with regard to COVID-19 are all important with direct relevance to the Christmas tradition and to the wellbeing of Santa Claus, and as well to the happiness and emotional wellbeing of the families hoping to have Santa make his annual visit. The World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention need to weigh in on this, and perhaps the leadership of each of the countries and states where Santa would be expected to visit. December 24th is not that far away, so we need to have guidance on these issues as soon as possible. Assuming there is no official guidance, I would like to offer the approach that I think is clearly the most appropriate. My recommendations are based in part on the fact that December is also influenza season in the Northern Hemisphere [2] . However, with regard to influenza, a virus with similar modes of transmission to COVID-19, I am unaware of any data that would suggest that Santa Claus ever became ill from influenza or ever transmitted influenza to others during any prior Christmas. Therefore, I do not believe that Santa Claus will be at risk for either acquiring or transmitting COVID-19. In my opinion, Santa Claus should make his visits in an identical fashion to that which he has done in prior years. How many calories did Santa Claus consume on Christmas Eve? COVID-19 versus seasonal influenza 2019-2020: USA The author thanks Joan Wormser for assistance.Conflict of interest G.P. Wormser Wormser reports receiving research grants from Immunetics, Inc., Institute for Systems Biology, Rarecyte, Inc., and Quidel Corporation. He owns equity in Abbott/AbbVie; has been an expert witness in malpractice cases involving babesiosis and Lyme disease; and is an unpaid board member of the American Lyme Disease Foundation.