California Hospital fined more than $ 40,000 after Santa Clara County said it delayed notification of the Covid-19 outbreak

California Hospital fined more than $ 40,000 after Santa Clara County said it delayed notification of the Covid-19 outbreak

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Santa Clara County said it issued a violation notice to the Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center on January 5 “as a result of Kaiser’s failure to timely report 43 cases involving employees who tested positive between December 27, 2020 and January 1. 2021. ” That number has grown since then, according to CNN affiliate KGO.

On Monday, a total of 92 cases of the virus were associated with this outbreak, according to health officials. This includes 77 employees and 15 patients.

“Kaiser is responsible for complying with all applicable public health orders and occupational safety regulations, including timely case reporting and all necessary follow-up,” the county said in an emailed statement to CNN.

The initial cause of the outbreak remains to be investigated by the public health department, officials said.

In a statement to KGO, Irene Chavez, senior vice president and area manager at Kaiser Permanente San Jose, said the outbreak “may” have been connected to an employee who briefly wore an “air-powered costume” in the emergency department. at Christmas.

“Any exposure, had it occurred, would have been completely innocent and completely accidental,” said Chávez. “As the individual did not show symptoms of COVID and only sought to lift the spirits of the people around him during a very stressful moment”.

Air-powered suits will no longer be allowed on the premises, Chavez added.

A public health order issued on October 5, 2020 requires the hospital to report to the public health department all positive cases confirmed from Covid-19 by employees who were in the workplace within four hours.

The fine for each violation is $ 1,000.

“Kaiser Permanente did not report any of these cases on the County Case and Contact Report Portal, as required by the Public Health Order issued on October 5,” said the county in its statement. “Kaiser also submitted a Social Distancing Protocol to the county on October 19 certifying that it would comply with all reporting requirements.”

The county said it was unaware of the positive cases until they were confirmed in a press release released by Kaiser Permanente on January 3.

In a statement to CNN, Kaiser Permanente spokeswoman Hilary Costa said her communications with state and local agencies about Covid-19 cases at her facility have been consistent.

“The suggestion that we are not close in our reporting is inaccurate,” Costa said in the statement.

The hospital is reviewing the Santa Clara county citation and plans to respond by the county’s January 15 deadline, according to Costa.

The health department continues to investigate the cause of the outbreak. It was determined that the outbreak was not the new variant of COVID-19 first identified in the UK.

CNN’s Kay Jones and Jessica Flynn contributed to this report.

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