The outbreak of COVID-19 at a San Jose hospital linked to an inflatable Christmas tree costume has now spread to at least 60 people.
Kaiser Permanente said it was investigating whether the clothing worn by an emergency department employee on Christmas Day may have caused the spread that killed one.
“This was not an activity sponsored or approved by Kaiser Permanente,” the spokesman said in a statement.
‘Any exposure, had it occurred, would have been completely innocent and completely accidental, since the individual had no Covid symptoms and just sought to lift the spirits of those around him during a very stressful period.’
Kaiser reported 44 cases potentially linked to the suit, but revised the numbers on Tuesday. All 60 workers with a positive test were in the emergency room on Christmas Day, reports The Mercury News.
The hospital is now investigating whether the air-powered costume, which had large eyes, a smile and a bright red nose, may have stimulated the spread of virus-laden droplets.
DailyMail.com contacted the hospital to find out what happened to the fantasy since it was linked to the outbreak.
California is so inundated by the coronavirus pandemic that the state has ordered hospitals to have space to accept patients from others who no longer have intensive care beds.
The giant inflatable Christmas tree costume associated with the spread of COVID-19 to at least 43 California hospital employees, killing one, was depicted on the wards
A hospital colleague who was working the morning of the incident told Mercury News that the woman wanted to provide some “innocent” festive relief to her co-workers and patients.
‘She was just spreading joy,’ said the nurse, who declined to be identified.
The nurse said her colleague surprised everyone at the emergency department’s central nursing station by appearing dressed in costume sometime between 9 am and 10 am on December 25.
– You just saw this Christmas tree falling towards you and it makes you smile. It was a brief moment of levity, and you go back to work, ‘she recalled.
The nurse said she was almost two meters from the woman in the suit, in accordance with social detachment guidelines, and that she was wearing a mask and face shield along with everyone else in the emergency department.
She recounted how the festive gesture had been “momentum” and insisted that previous reports of a party or gathering of people around the woman in the costume were incorrect.
‘[They] painted us from the perspective of being irresponsible when we work hard to save lives. We are not seeing our families. It portrayed us as not caring about our community, ‘she said.
She added that all employees wear masks and don’t ‘hug’ and that no one wore Santa hats in the ER this year, just in case they mess up the EPI.
But on December 27, two days after the brief glee, the nurse said she started showing symptoms of COVID-19.
Many colleagues who worked on Christmas Day also started feeling bad and showing symptoms around the same time, she added.
The woman wearing the costume had no symptoms on Christmas Day, but then she also tested positive.
A nurse jumped in defense of her colleague who was wearing a Christmas tree costume now linked to an outbreak of COVID-19 that killed one and infected 44 in a California hospital (above)
The unidentified hospital worker wore the air-powered inflatable suit on the wards of the Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center on Christmas Day
The NBC Bay Area news, which first reported the incident, said the deceased was a clerk described by her co-workers as an ‘absolutely wonderful woman’.
They quoted an official as saying that the outbreak may have been caused by a team performing respiratory treatments in a room not designed for that purpose.
Coronavirus spreads mainly through respiratory droplets emitted when people breathe, speak, sing, cough or sneeze.
Although hospital staff have started receiving their Covid-19 vaccines, it takes about two weeks after the first dose for the body to have enough antibodies to fight infection, and both vaccines authorized so far in the United States require an injection of reinforcement.
Kaiser Permante said that employees who received the first dose less than 10 days ago, therefore, should not have achieved immunity at the time of exposure.
The hospital offered staff rapid tests, performed a thorough cleaning of the emergency room and adjusted its protocols, including the end of large meetings in rest rooms, the report said.
The nurse added that she was struggling to understand the idea that the suit could have triggered the cluster of cases.
“It just doesn’t seem completely plausible that it was all hers because it was just a moment compared to what we dealt with all the time,” said the nurse.
‘How can it be that if it happened at 9 am that people were being infected at 3 pm? This can happen? Yes. But was it tragically a coincidence or something? We just don’t know. ‘
A view of a Kaiser Permanente employee being vaccinated on December 14 above. Many of those infected had already received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine before the outbreak
Irene Chavez, senior vice president and area manager, Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center, said in a statement that it was “a highly unusual situation involving a well-meaning employee acting on his own without notice or approval”.
“Any exposure, if it occurred, would have been completely innocent and quite accidental, since the individual had no symptoms of COVID and just sought to lift the spirits of those around him during a very stressful period,” she said.
“Obviously, we will no longer allow air-powered fantasies at our facilities,” said Chávez.
“At the same time, we are taking steps to enforce safety precautions among employees, including physical distance and not meeting in rest rooms, not sharing food or drinks and masks at all times,” said the hospital, according to ABC7.
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, professor of medicine and specialist in infectious diseases at UCSF, said the suit was probably “acting like the engine of air in a huge way. It is like a fan that is multidirectional and random. ‘
The hospital is currently conducting contact screening to determine whether other staff, patients or visitors may have been exposed to the virus.
He also introduced weekly tests for his team.
The hospital’s emergency room remains open and safe to receive patients and all areas of the department undergo a thorough cleaning, while those infected are isolated.
Nearly 40,000 health professionals at Kaiser Permanente have already received COVID-19 vaccines and more are expected soon.
Los Angeles continues to see hospitalizations rise day after day, setting a new record on Tuesday with nearly 8,000 hospitalized and more than a fifth in the ICU. The county, which accounts for a quarter of California’s 40 million residents, has more than 40% of the state’s 27,000 coronavirus deaths.
