FOUNTAIN INN, S.C. — A South Carolina city has informed parents whose children with autism participated in a city-sponsored holiday event that the man who played the part of Santa Claus has since tested positive for COVID-19.
According to the statement posted on the city of Fountain Inn’s official website, the man who donned the Santa suit for the Dec. 13 Sensory Santa event informed city leaders three days later that he tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
Fountain Inn has established a reputation over the past few decades “for its embrace of the Christmas season,” including numerous special events and vibrant holiday light displays, The Post and Courier reported.
According to the newspaper, the Sensory Santa event was designed with the special needs of the 11 participating families in mind, including minimized noises and lights that could overwhelm the acute senses of children with autism.
Sitting on Santa’s lap, however, was not part of the Sensory Santa event or the broader Santa program that is open to the larger pool of children. In both cases, held at the city’s open-air Farmers Market, the children are separated from Santa by a rope and a distance of about six feet, City Manager Shawn Bell told The Post and Courier.
“When they signed up, we told them that masks were required for those that could wear them,” Bell told the newspaper. “Many of the family members did wear masks, and some of them chose not to.”
Fountain Inn, roughly 20 miles southeast of Greenville, does not have a citywide mask ordinance in place.
“We sincerely regret this situation and apologize for this inconvenience,” the city stated on its website.
According to The State, Bell told McClatchy News in a Friday phone interview that the man playing the role of Santa was not experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms at the time of the event.
“It wasn’t until later that evening that he found out that he had some limited contact with a relative who had tested positive,” Bell told the news outlet.
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Cox Media Group
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