Santa candles get masked up in Greece in COVID-19 surge

Alexios Gerakis in the northern town of Thessaloniki has made decorative candles featuring Father Christmas, with a big blue surgical mask covering his white beard. "Because of the times, we are trying to convey a message that health comes first, then everything else," Gerakis, 37, told Reuters Television.


Reuters | Athens | Updated: 18-11-2020 15:31 IST | Created: 18-11-2020 14:54 IST
Santa candles get masked up in Greece in COVID-19 surge
Representative image. Image Credit: Pexels
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A Greek candlemaker has come up with a novel way of highlighting the need to wear a mask to curb the spread of the new coronvirus; putting them on his Santa candles. Alexios Gerakis in the northern town of Thessaloniki has made decorative candles featuring Father Christmas, with a big blue surgical mask covering his white beard.

"Because of the times, we are trying to convey a message that health comes first, then everything else," Gerakis, 37, told Reuters Television. Snowmen are also sporting a mask. Thessaloniki has been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in a second, more aggressive surge which resurfaced in the autumn which forced Greek authorities to reimpose a nationwide lockdown which expires at the end of November.

Greece registered a further 2,198 cases and 58 deaths on Monday, its second highest daily death toll so far. It has reported a total of 78,825 coronavirus infections since February, and 1,228 deaths. "Christmas is a bit of a question mark for all of us this year I think, we don't know how this will end. We have to be optimistic, but it's uncertain what will happen," Gerakis said.

 

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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