A California hospital is likely to receive a $ 43,000 fine from county health officials for potentially inciting a COVID-19 over-spread event that has been traced back to an inflatable Christmas tree costume.
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Health officials from the Santa Clara County Department of Public Health said they had counted 77 cases of employees and 15 cases of patients, in addition to the death of a staff member, related to the event at the San Jose Medical Center.
Health officials say they were unaware of the first 43 cases until the news was released this week. San Jose received a $ 1,000 fine last week for each late report of a positive coronavirus case, but since early January, holiday-related cases have increased from the initial 43 to more than 90.
“Kaiser Permanente did not report any of these cases on the County Contacts and Work Cases Report Portal, as required by the Public Health Order issued on October 5,” said the county health department in a statement.
Health giant Kaiser Permanente has denied any delay in reporting cases.
“The suggestion that we are not close to our reporting is inaccurate,” said Kaiser Permanente in a statement to NBC News, adding that “it has maintained consistent communications with various state and local agencies about COVID-19 cases at our facilities.”
Kaiser Permanente added that the Christmas tree costume was thought to be an innocent gesture that “just sought to lift the spirits of people around you during a period of great stress”.
The health care company is reviewing the Santa Clara County quote and plans to respond before Friday’s deadline.
California has almost 3 million cases of the coronavirus and has had more than 30,000 deaths attributed to it.
Tag: News, California, Coronavirus, Public Health, Christmas
Original Author: Mica Soellner
Original location: California hospital fined for COVID-19 outbreak related to inflatable Christmas costume
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