In flu season, even Santa's washing his hands, checking them twice

EDMONTON — Whenever the lineup of kids and parents in front of his chair thins out a little, the Santa Claus working Edmonton's Southgate Mall hoists a fuzzy red and green sack over the arm of his chair and pulls out hand sanitizer, throat spray, extra white gloves and tissues.

"Everybody's very conscious," Santa said. With their parents taking afternoons off and queuing for hours to get their children vaccinated, Santa knows he can't be too careful. No one wants a stocking full of swine flu for Christmas.

The mall has set up two extra hand sanitizing stations at the entrance and exit of Santa's Village this year to prevent the spread of H1N1 and seasonal flu, said mall general manager Paul Fairbridge.

Cleaning staff visit the Santa display a minimum of four times a day to clean high-contact areas such as railings and the arms of Santa's chair. Santa's suit is cleaned at least once a week and is sanitized every day, Fairbridge said.

Fairbridge strongly encouraged all Southgate staff, Santa included, to get the H1N1 vaccine, but said it remains a personal choice. And if your child is sick, Santa would just as soon hear his Christmas wishes a little later in the season.

"The best thing at this stage of the game if kids aren't feeling well, the best thing to do is stay home," he said. "Santa Claus is here right until the 23rd . . . if they're not feeling great today, stay home and come back another day."

Southgate's Santa hasn't noticed any kids showing flu symptoms since the display opened on Saturday. Even if he did, he would never say anything to the child's parents, he said.

"That's the parents' responsibility. Our job is to produce magic," he said.

Santas who graduate from Calgary's Santa School have always been encouraged to take precautions such as washing their beards regularly and bleaching and washing their white gloves every night during flu season, but more Santas seem to be taking the advice to heart this year, said Santa School head elf Jennifer Andrews.

"Santas have always been around hundreds, sometimes thousands of kids and people every season, so we've always recommended they use stringent techniques," Andrews said.

"Santas that have the luxury of having elves with them . . . elves love handing out candy canes just as easily as they can hand out hand sanitizer."

Tanyss Patterson is more concerned about her three-year-old daughter, Nina, getting sick from preschool than Santa, she said after the trio got a photo taken at Southgate. Both Patterson and her daughter received the H1N1 vaccination last week. Patterson said they're diligent about making sure they wash their hands and use hand sanitizer regularly.

"It never occurred to me about Santa. It's preschool I'm worried about," Patterson said.

Santas are instructed to stay at home if they show flu symptoms, said Special Events Digital Photo owner Dean Skoubis, who runs all of the Santa displays at all of Edmonton's malls.

"We've got a lot of guys available — there's no fear of a shortage of Santas this year," he said.