Santa’s safety on our minds
With Christmas just around the corner, lots of people have been asking how Santa is going to deliver presents in the middle of a pandemic. It’s a good question, so if the youngsters in your life are asking, here are some answers.
First, let me make it clear that just like the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, his elves, and his reindeer are classed as essential workers. Given Santa’s advanced age and important job, earlier this year a team of experts formed the Keeping Santa Safe committee.
We worked with Santa and his elves to put together a pandemic plan for the North Pole that has made it one of the few places in the world that has stayed free of Covid-19.
Border restrictions have been in place, and Santa was told he wasn’t allowed to go overseas on his usual holiday.
That made him a little grumpy but the elves planned a great staycation for him instead.
The good news is the festive season isn’t cancelled. But there is some bad news. You know all those disruptions to the global supply chain caused by the pandemic? Unfortunately, they’ve meant the elves haven’t been able to source everything they’ve needed tomake all the presents.
Don’t be surprised if your stockings and sacks are a little less full this year and contain more handmade presents than usual. Santa and the elves thank you for your understanding.
Speaking of presents, perhaps you’ve been wondering how Santa will get into Aotearoa New Zealand without having to spend 14 days in managed isolation?
Well, because the North Pole has been kept free of the virus, the Ministry of Health has granted Santa and his reindeer a special exemption that will allow them to fly in and out of the country on Christmas Eve as normal.
With so many parts of the world experiencing widespread outbreaks of Covid-19, our plan also prevents Santa from catching the virus while he’s delivering all those presents.
Because of Santa’s luxuriant beard, instead of getting him to wear amask, we’ve adapted his suit to include a PAPR. That stands for Powered AirPurifying Respirator.
It’s a special type of mask that covers someone’s whole face. Scientists like me sometimes wear them in the lab if we need protecting against viruses and bacteria that spread through the air.
A PAPR looks a bit like the helmet of a spacesuit. Fresh air is blown into the helmet through a special filter that doesn’t let even really tiny things like viruses get through. As long as Santa keeps his PAPR on, he’ll be safe. This means he won’t be able to eat any of the delicious goodies or drink any of the glasses of beer, port, or eggnog that people normally leave out for him.
And as for leaving carrots for the reindeer, it might be best to give that a miss for this year too. Just in case.