Santa waves to the crowd during a recent Santa Claus parade in Vancouver. (CBC)

Santa Claus may be coming to town but with the swine flu virus still circulating, the big guy and his helpers are taking special precautions in at least one Vancouver-area shopping mall.

Santa makes his official arrival at the Coquitlam Centre mall —located east of Vancouver — on Saturday at noon.

And this Christmas, Santa's duties include doing whatever he can to avoid spreading the H1N1 virus amongst the youngsters.

'We're ... asking parents if their children have any flu symptoms to please consider taking them home —Santa's helper Deborah Stetz

"My immune system is very good — but with the kids, flu seems to be hitting them more than it does the old people, and that's scary," Santa told CBC.

Santa's helper Deborah Stetz says hand washing and cleanliness are the new buzzwords this season.

"Santa changes his gloves every two hours and obviously does a lot of hand washing in between," said Stetz.

Displays get wipe-downs

And it is not just Santa that will be kept clean. All the display equipment will also get regular wipe-downs as part of his helpers' new sanitizing duties.

"We just have to make sure that everything's all cleaned up. We have to wipe down the fences every time Santa goes on his break, and every time it's a little slow," Stetz said.

And regardless of whether they are naughty or nice, children with flu symptoms will be asked to take a pass on seeing Santa and come back when they are feeling better.

"We're going to be posting signs asking parents if their children have any flu symptoms to please consider taking them home and having them come back another day."

But parents who do have to take their kids out of line due to flu symptoms will be offered free passes and Santa photos, she said.