Kringle COVID Measures at the North Pole – How Santa Claus IS Coming to Town This Year
What a year it has been. Every person, business, organization and pet in the world has felt the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Limitations on our daily activities have come and gone and, in some cases, come again since March. Businesses have closed, opened and, in some cases, closed again. Some businesses known for one product or service have pivoted and become known for something else entirely. After all, before 2020 who would have guessed that a company making gin would be better known as a manufacturer of hand sanitizer? Given all the changes to what was previously “normal” the question on everyone’s mind as we enter the Holiday season is … is Santa Claus a health hazard??
Like other employers throughout the world, Santa has tried to navigate through COVID-19. And despite his remote location and bubble-like North Pole worksite he has taken nothing for granted. Like other employers that have operated during the pandemic, he has taken all necessary precautions to ensure not only that he is healthy to make his ride on Christmas Eve, but that all of his elves and reindeer are healthy and safe while they complete their work throughout the year. And after the year we have experienced, the likes of which have not been seen since 1918, Santa feels it is especially important this Christmas to bring some smiles and joy to everyone around the world.
So grab your cocoa and candy cane as we review exactly what Santa has done to make sure a year without a Santa Claus is nothing more than the name of a holiday movie[1] enjoyed by families with a bowl of popcorn and a warm blanket.
Remote Work
Santa has been around for centuries and has seen a great many things – including a worldwide pandemic in 1918. And just like he did then, Santa has had to adapt his operations in response to COVID, and act quickly in doing so. People may only know about the 12 days of Christmas, but it takes much longer for a worldwide, one-night trip to visit and provide gifts to every child in the world to come together. As Santa explained in a recent interview with paNOW[2]:
“With more children at home and plenty of time to draft their letters and emails to Santa, the mailroom at the north pole has been flooded.”
Santa needed to ensure he could continue his work to avoid a backlog of letters filled with Christmas wishes.
Where possible, thanks to technology, Santa has transitioned to a remote-work business model. This has included moving meetings traditionally held in person and face-to-face, to video and telephone conferences. Video conferencing services and applications that have been around for many years got a new lease on life in 2020 as Zoom, Microsoft Teams and even Skype became daily go-to’s for most businesses, including Santa. Rather than relying on these applications only for meetings with his helpers located around the globe and in different time zones, regular scheduling and production meetings and reviews of the Naughty and Nice List, so vital to Santa’s operations, were able to continue as usual and on an immediate basis amongst colleagues located only a few kilometres apart, yet unable to meet in person. Design moved to a more digital format as well as the elves worked collaboratively on virtual platforms with their colleagues to design the best and newest toys for the 2020 holiday season. And, of course, check-ins with Santa’s many Elf on the Shelf agents could just as easily be accomplished by telephone call or FaceTime ensuring there was no break in communications and providing the added benefit of reduction in travel and fuel charges associated with constant back-and-forth sleigh rides.
Health and Safety Precautions
Of course, there are certain aspects of a business that cannot easily move from an in-person system to a virtual one or expect the same results when they do. Toys, for example, cannot be made by a team of elves who meet on Microsoft Teams, and not every elf has a workshop at their home or access to the same tools as are available at Santa’s Toy Shop. And so Santa, like any employer, took steps to ensure the health and safety of his elves and reindeer long before the holiday season began.
100% Face Mask Wearing: First and foremost, Santa introduced mandatory face masks for all employees (those wonderful hard-working elves) both inside the Toy Shop and while in the village. Santa’s operations may be isolated, but they were not built for thousands of employees to maintain 6 feet of physical distancing each and every day. Thankfully, as an employer of one of the world’s largest toy manufacturing and distribution operations, Santa is no stranger to health and safety measures and face masks were a relatively easy thing for him to introduce. Elves in the factory already wear safety glasses to protect their eyes while building toys and many already wear masks as part of their regular work duties which often include the painting and staining of wood, metal and other materials. And to ensure his operations did not reduce the limited supply of PPE available for first response and healthcare workers, Santa pivoted a portion of his doll and teddy bear clothing operations to the production of reusable cloth masks for everyone at the North Pole. So the move to 100% mask wearing was a no-brainer for Santa.
Keeping a Reindeer Length Apart: Additional safety measures include physical distancing for all elves in the Gift Wrapping and Shipping Departments (where possible) and administrative employees in the village’s administrative buildings, including the Post Office, Naughty and Nice and Letter Response departments. Elves employed in administrative positions have worked on a rotating in-person schedule to limit the number of personnel in Santa’s offices on any given day. Desks in offices are placed at least 6 feet apart and, in some cases, have been moved into alternative spaces such as larger meeting rooms to allow the elves to maintain proper social distancing. And, of course, all elves undertake a daily COVID screening questionnaire before arriving at work each day or, if experiencing COVID-related symptoms, get tested using a rapid-response COVID testing system. And the reindeer? With team sports not permitted and limited, in most cases, to training only, Santa’s reindeer have not been able to conduct as many practice runs and team events to prepare for the big night. And the Reindeer Games, the opportunity for many young reindeers to exhibit their prowess at pulling a sleigh in front of Santa, were, like the Olympics and many regional and national sports championships, cancelled this year.
No Buffets: Unfortunately, not all changes have been welcomed by those that live in Santa’s village. Due to COVID restrictions surrounding the sharing of food, the free milk, cocoa and cookies traditionally enjoyed by the elves during their workday were not able to be placed on plates and available for the asking in the breakrooms. Instead, individually-packaged milk cartons and cookies are made available at each break. (Thankfully for all of us, Santa has always individually wrapped his presents.)
No Singing: With vocal singing in groups and concerts prohibited, the Elf Choir has taken a year off in 2020. This also means no singing in the Toy Shop during work hours. Instead, the speakers in the workshops play the extensive library of Christmas music available through Santa’s Spotify subscription.
No Unnecessary Outings: Mall visits and traditional Santa photos also look very different in 2020. Travel restrictions and physical distancing requirements have resulted in the cancellation of many of Santa’s pre-Christmas outings. Traditionally held in person and face-to-face, these visits too have transitioned to virtual sit downs with Saint Nick. This holiday season, he will use Zoom, Google Meets and Microsoft Teams to meet with millions of children and receive their Christmas wishes.
Can Santa Travel for Business?
But in a world where we must stay close only to those in our own household and 6 feet apart from everyone else, borders are closed and travel is restricted (unless you quarantine for 14 days), can someone who carries on business as the largest manufacturer and distributor of toys in the world really carry on business “as normal”? Is Santa Claus able to visit this year? You bet he can. Business travel has certainly decreased significantly in 2020 but it has not come to a complete halt. Since March, 1790 individuals entering Canada have been granted special ministerial permission to forego COVID-related requirements, including quarantine, as their visits have been deemed to be “in the national interest”. 84% of these have been players and staff with professional sports leagues and 15% have been business travellers[3]. It is expected that Santa will be granted a similar travel exemption by the Canadian government[4], following countries including Australia, Belgium, Ireland, Trinidad and Tobago which have already taken steps to exempt Santa from the most restrictive COVID-19 requirements in those countries despite the ongoing second wave.
And so, Santa will undertake a full world tour on Christmas Eve, exempt from the mandatory quarantine period in each country he visits. But what about the big night itself? Can it really go off without a hitch?
If you stay up late enough to catch a glimpse of Jolly Old St. Nick on December 24th, you can expect to see him wearing a mask, safety glasses and gloves (in the traditional white, of course). You might spy Santa sanitizing the table where you have left his milk and cookies by wiping down and cleaning all hard surfaces. He’ll even be disinfecting the area under the tree where he has left presents with an electrostatic sprayer and electric-charge mist. After all, while families around the world will be kind enough to allow Santa to visit, the safety of those families is one of his biggest priorities. Similar precautions have been introduced by gym owners and airlines and electrostatic spraying allows not only for the disinfecting of large areas but provides the opportunity to effectively sanitize high traffic areas since the disinfectant used in the mist is safe for individuals immediately after use. Finally, Santa will sanitize his hands between each house visit using the dispenser system he has installed in the sleigh
***
So, it will definitely be a different holiday season for everyone this year. But it can still be great. And maybe a different sort of Christmas is just what we need to end a very different year. If you listen carefully enough on Christmas Eve, you may just hear Santa exclaim a message that our team at Piccolo Heath LLP echoes- “Merry Christmas to all, and to all good health!!!”
[1] One of, if not the best Christmas movie in the opinion of the author.
[2] https://panow.com/2020/12/10/santa-says-covid-19-has-minimal-impact-on-north-pole-operations-and-present-delivery/
[3] CBC News, December 13, 2020.
[4] The City of Ottawa has already granted Santa a travel exemption and, at the time of this writing, Toronto City Council is expected to pass a motion asking the Ontario government to declare Santa an essential service and exempt from travel restrictions.
