The municipality of Balen has called in a Facebook post to leave the Sinterklaas, who probably infected 59 residents of a residential care center in Mol, alone. “He didn’t want this,” says Johan Leysen (CD&V), the mayor of Balen – where the saint lives. “His mother also lives in that nursing home: if he had just visited, he could have infected those people too. But because he had a miter and a staff, he is now suddenly being targeted.”
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This afternoon a message appeared on the Facebook page of the municipality of Balen. “Statements on social media towards help is not okay. The relief, which comes from our municipality, was introduced with the best of intentions to give the residents a pleasant day in their isolation. He is a regular visitor (relative of resident) and volunteer of the residential care center and the management had asked him to do this. He did not know at the time that he was corona positive. ”
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“The initiative for the message came from our crisis cell,” says the mayor. “I spoke to that man. He is ill, but besides that he is completely overwhelmed by all the reactions. He is now figuratively pushed to the Black Pete, but a Sinterklaas like that doesn’t just come into a retirement home, hey. He was asked. They know him there because he visits his mother several times a week. ”
“You can discuss whether that Saint visit went well and according to the rules of the art. That is not what it is about for me: the point is that the man is now being dealt with very hard and that he himself was not aware that he had corona. Moreover: he will be there anyway, so with or without a miter: people may have become ill. If an infection breaks out in a residential care center, it will pass. But because he was carrying a miter and a staff, he is now being blamed. ”
Digital bullying
The Facebook post goes even further: “We do not point out any guilty parties, but publicly shaming someone is a form of digital bullying. The board is clear in this: bullying, in whatever form, cannot and should not happen. The Saint himself is very upset about this incident and must be able to process this himself without having to read all those comments. The board therefore appeals to the citizenship and solidarity of its residents. Give the saint the chance to process this in his own way, in peace.
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