Chocolate Santas in marzipan masks - a coronavirus Christmas in Hungary

Chocolate Santas wearing protective face masks are seen in the workshop of the Hungarian confectioner Laszlo Rimoczi, during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Lajosmizse, Hungary, November 20, 2020. REUTERS/Bernadett Szabo

LAJOSMIZSE, Hungary (Reuters) - When confectioner Laszlo Rimoczi decided to put masks on his chocolate Santas in his small workshop in rural Hungary, he intended it as a light-hearted joke to raise people's spirits amid a worsening coronavirus pandemic.

But it turned out to be shrewd business move as orders surged online, and now he can hardly keep pace with demand.