U.S. sees shortage of Santas due to COVID-19: Yahoo News

NEW YORK, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- The company HireSanta has seen a 121 percent increase in demand for Santas this year compared to the past two years while the working Santas is down by 10 percent, Yahoo News has reported.

The reasons for the drop are that some Santa Claus entertainers have died of COVID-19 while others choose to retire from the Santa game or take the year off due to the pandemic, it said.

"Several hundred Santas and Mrs. Clauses, over the last 18 months, have passed away, and it's just a tragedy," Mitch Allen, founder of the HireSanta, was quoted as saying.