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Gift-bearing St Nicholas exempted from COVID-19 measures in Belgium

Gift-bearing St Nicholas exempted from COVID-19 measures in Belgium
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BUIZINGEN, Belgium (AP) — To ensure the merriment of millions of Belgian children, the government is offering a special exemption from the stringent coronavirus measures to beloved St. Nicholas.

The saint always delivers bountiful presents on the morning of Dec. 6.

In a tongue-in-cheek letter Thursday, Belgium's health and interior ministers soothed the worries of youngsters fearing they might go without presents.

The officials said Nicholas wouldn’t have to quarantine after arriving in Belgium from Spain, where he lives, and would be able to walk rooftops to drop gifts into chimneys even during curfew hours.

They wrote: "Do what you do best: make every child happy. We are counting on you.”