You can Track Santa’s Journey on Christmas Eve

Are your children too excited to sleep on Christmas eve? Or are you still a kid at heart? Either way, you can follow Santa’s toy delivery journey around the world on your smartphone, through social media, and through the Santa Tracker phone line.

The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) will be busy at work tracking Santa on December 24, according to TODAY because the coronavirus can’t stop Santa. For the past 65 years, NORAD, has been tracking the jolly man in red, but to be safe, there will be some changes this year.

In previous years, 150-160 volunteers at Peterson Air Force base in Colorado Springs manned the phones at 1-877-Hi-NORAD to answer questions from children about where Santa was in real time and when he would be at their homes. The volunteers worked two-hour shifts beginning at 6 am on Christmas eve. There were usually 130,000 phone calls every Christmas eve.

This year, due to safety restrictions, there will only be 10 volunteers per shift  answering phones. “We understand this is a time-honored tradition, and we know undoubtedly there is going to be some disappointment,” NORAD spokesman Preston Schlachter told TODAY. “But we’re trying to keep it safe for everyone involved.”

According to Schlachter, all the volunteers this year will be people who already work at the base or their families and they will all have their temperatures checked when they arrive. Other safety measures include hand sanitizers, wipes, and cleaning crews will wipe down  surfaces throughout the day and everything will be sanitized between shifts to protect Santa’s helpers.

This year, Santa trackers can visit NORAD, according to a press release from NORAD, or they can use new mobile phone apps that are available from Google Play and the Apple App Store. NORAD also partnered with other companies who wanted to join in the holiday fun including OnStar and Amazon Alexa.

You can also join the 2.1 million followers this holiday tradition on the  Santa Tracker Facebook, Twitter and Instagram platforms. This much-loved Christmas tradition has found a way to bring joy and happiness to families this holiday season.