A well-intentioned holiday delivery became fatal after an employee at San Jose Hospital in Kaiser Permanente died due to a case of COVID-19 being returned to a visitor in an inflated Christmas tree costume.
Hospital officials confirmed the death in a statement provided to this news organization.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this terrible loss,” a Kaiser spokesman said in the statement. “We provide support to our employees during this difficult time.”
Hospital officials initially reported an outbreak of 44 infections traced back to the Christmas gathering, but this would be the first fatal connection with the informal visit on 25 December. All 44, including the employee who died, were working in the emergency department that day, according to NBC Bay Area, who also described the first victim of the outbreak as a woman who worked as a registration clerk in the department.
It is suspected that no patients were infected, but officials said over the weekend that they were doing additional tests for everyone who was exposed. Employees who are confirmed or suspected of having the virus are being asked to stay home and the medical center’s emergency department has cleaned up deeply, officials said.
The costumed distributor of the virus has not been identified as an employee of the hospital. However, the visit was not approved by the hospital, officials said.
Because COVID-19 is airborne, hospital officials are investigating whether inflating the costume and its air circulation machine could lead to greater spread of the infectious particles.