"Dear Santa Claus, all I want for Christmas is to hug Papà" - Rome hospital lets children hug their parents thanks to anti-covid curtain. Rome's S. Raffaele hospital has made the wishes of its little patients come true after the children had asked Santa Claus to help them to hug their parents, following months of separation due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The hospital has set up a plastic "hug curtain" which allows the children to hug their parents, siblings and grandparents safely, just in time for Christmas, without covid-19 risks. There were emotional scenes in the hospital this week as in some cases parents haven't been able to hold their child in their arms for several months, with one mother calling the embrace "an indescribable emotion."