Yes, really.

Whitmer introduced Santa Claus to the 6 groups of children before inviting them to ask Santa questions, almost all of which were about COVID-19 rules and had obviously been scripted for them.

Asked by one of the kids if he had to wear a mask, Santa said him and his elves are "all masked up and social distancing."

Father Christmas was subsequently asked if coronavirus had reached the North Pole, to which he responded that no one was taking any chances and that "we're all gonna mask up, we're all gonna wash our hands, and we're all gonna stay six feet apart."

All of the children on one of the zoom calls were seen wearing masks.

Another one of the children then said they would leave out "hand sanitizer" once Santa is finished with the cookies and milk.

Santa urged everyone "to do what the Governor is telling all the people of the great state of Michigan to do," which includes the instruction to "wear your mask when you're outside your home."

Whitmer then said that families should "stay home" and not visit each other and instead, "call your grandparents and your cousins and your family and it's the safest way to tell the people you love how much you care about them."