COVID outbreak linked to costume infects 92 at California hospital, including patients
A deadly COVID-19 outbreak linked to an inflatable Christmas tree costume at a California hospital has now infected at least 92 people, including 15 patients, health officials say.
An employee who wore a fan-powered costume in the Kaiser Permanente San Jose emergency room on Christmas may have been a “superspreader,” The Mercury News reported.
Santa Clara County health officials say a COVID outbreak at the hospital, which began Dec. 27, has now spread to 77 employees and 15 patients, KTVU reported.
One person, a registration clerk in the emergency department, has died, KNTV reported. County health officials continue to investigate the cause of the outbreak.
Santa Clara County officials fined Kaiser Permanente San Jose $43,000 for failing to initially report the outbreak as required, KPIX reported.
County officials say they learned of the outbreak from a hospital press release, according to the station. The hospital was fined $1,000 for each of the initial 43 cases.
Hospital officials have said they suspect the outbreak may be linked to the air-powered inflatable costume.
“Any exposure, if it occurred, would have been completely innocent, and quite accidental, as the individual had no COVID symptoms and only sought to lift the spirits of those around them during what is a very stressful time,” said Irene Chavez, hospital senior vice president, in a statement, KGO reported.
“If anything, this should serve as a very real reminder that the virus is widespread, and often without symptoms, and we must all be vigilant,” Chavez said, according to the station.
The hospital underwent a deep cleaning and air-powered costumes have been banned, The San Francisco Chronicle reported.
More than 91 million cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed worldwide with more than 1.9 million deaths as of Jan. 13, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 22 million confirmed cases with more than 381,000 deaths.
This story was originally published January 13, 2021 at 11:41 AM with the headline "COVID outbreak linked to costume infects 92 at California hospital, including patients."