The COVID-19 outbreak in a San Jose hospital related to an inflatable Christmas tree costume has now spread to at least 60 people.
Kaiser Permanente said it was investigating whether the outfit worn at an emergency department on Christmas Day might have caused the spread of the one.
“This was not an activity sponsored or approved by Kaiser Permanente,” the spokesman said in a statement.
“Any exposure, if it were to take place, would have been completely innocent and quite accidental, as the individual had no Covid symptoms and was only trying to arouse the minds of those around them during a very stressful time.”
Kaiser reported 44 cases possibly linked to the costume, but revised the figure late Tuesday. All 60 workers who now tested positive were in the ER on Christmas Day, reports The Mercury News.
The hospital is now investigating whether the air-powered suit, with large eyes, a smile and a bright red nose, may have caused the spread of virus-laden droplets.
DailyMail.com contacted the hospital to find out what has happened to the costume since it was linked to the outbreak.
California was so overwhelmed by the coronavirus pandemic that the state ordered hospitals with space to accept patients from others who had fallen into intensive care beds.
The giant inflatable Christmas tree costume associated with the spread of COVID-19 to at least 43 hospitals in California, killing one, was pictured on the wards.
A colleague at the hospital who worked the morning of the incident told Mercury News the woman wanted to offer an ‘innocent’ festive relief to her staff and patients.
“She just spread joy,” said the nurse, who did not want to be named.
The nurse said her colleague surprised everyone at the central nursing station at the emergency department by appearing in the costume somewhere between 25:00 and 10:00 on 25 December.
‘You just see this Christmas tree bordering you, and it makes you smile. It was a brief moment of liveliness, and you go back to work, ‘she recalls.
The nurse said she stayed six feet from the woman in the costume in accordance with social guidelines and that she was wearing a mask and a face shield along with everyone else in the emergency department.
She recounts how the festive gesture was ‘inspired by the moment’ and insists that previous reports of a party or gathering of people around the woman in the costume were incorrect.
‘[They] painted us in the face of irresponsibility as we were saving lives. We do not see our families. It showed us that we do not care about our community, ‘she said.
She added that all staff wear masks and do not ‘hug’ and that no one will wear Santa hats in the ER this year if they get in the way of PPE.
But on December 27, two days after the brief merriment, the nurse said she began to show symptoms of COVID-19.
Many colleagues who work on Christmas Day also started feeling sick and showing symptoms at the same time, she added.
The woman wearing the costume had no symptoms on Christmas Day, but later also tested positive.
A nurse jumped to the defense of her colleague who was wearing a Christmas tree costume closely linked to a COVID-19 outbreak in which one died and 44 were infected in a California hospital (above).
The unidentified employee of the hospital wore the new, inflatable costume to the ward at Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center on Christmas Day.
NBC Bay News, which first reported the incident, said the deceased was a registration clerk described by her associates as an ‘absolutely wonderful woman’.
They quoted one employee as saying that the outbreak was possibly caused by staff doing breathing treatments in a room not designed for it.
The coronavirus is mainly spread by respiratory droplets that are emitted when people breathe, speak, sing, cough or sneeze.
Although hospital workers began receiving their Covid-19 vaccines, it takes about two weeks after the first dose before the body has enough antibodies to fight infection, and both vaccines approved so far in the US have a shot. necessary.
Kaiser Permante said that therefore, staff who received their first dose less than ten days ago were not expected to have achieved immunity during the exposure.
The hospital offered staff quick tests, did a deep cleaning of the emergency room and adjusted the protocols, including ending major rallies during breaks.
The nurse added that she was struggling to get her head around the thought that the costume could have caused the group of cases to flare up.
“It just doesn’t seem entirely plausible that it was all her, because it was just a moment in time compared to what we were dealing with all the time,” the nurse said.
‘How can it be if it happens at 9 o’clock in the morning that people are infected at three o’clock in the afternoon? Can this happen? Yes. But was it tragically coincidental or something else? We just do not know. ‘
A view of a Kaiser Permanent staff who were vaccinated on December 14 above. Many of the infected people had already received the first dose of 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 “an extremely unusual situation in which a well-meaning staff member acts alone without prior notice or approval.”
“Any exposure, if it had taken place, would have been completely innocent and accidental, as the individual had no COVID symptoms and was only trying to lift the minds of those around them during a very stressful time,” she said. said.
“It’s clear we are no longer allowing air-powered costumes at our facilities,” Chavez said.
“At the same time, we are taking steps to strengthen safety measures among staff, including physical distance and no gathering during breaks, no sharing of food or drink and masks,” the hospital said according to ABC7.
Dr Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine and expert in infectious diseases at UCSF, said the costume was likely to act in a tremendous way as an air shift. It’s like a fan that’s multidirectional and random. ‘
The hospital is currently conducting contact detection to determine if other staff, patients or visitors may have been exposed to the virus.
It also introduced weekly tests for its staff.
The hospital’s emergency department is still open and safe to receive patients, and all areas of the department are being thoroughly cleaned while the infected go into isolation.
Nearly 40,000 health workers at Kaiser Permanente have already received COVID-19 vaccines and more are expected soon.
Los Angeles continues to see hospitalizations rise day by day, setting a new record on Tuesday with nearly 8,000 hospitals and more than a fifth of those in the ICU. The province, which makes up a quarter of California’s 40 million people, has more than 40% of the 27,000 coronavirus deaths.
