- Forty-three hospital employees at Kaiser Permanente San Jose tested positive for COVID-19 from December 27 to January 1.
- The outbreak occurred after an emergency room employee briefly wore an inflatable costume to work on Christmas.
- The costume's fan may have splayed infectious particles across the emergency department.
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A well-meaning gesture at a California hospital may have backfired this Christmas: To celebrate the holiday, an emergency room employee at Kaiser Permanente San Jose briefly wore an inflatable costume to work on December 25. Hospital officials are now looking into whether the costume's fan may have splayed infectious particles across the emergency department.
Between December 27 and January 1, 43 hospital employees at Kaiser Permanente San Jose tested positive for COVID-19.
"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," Irene Chavez, the hospital's senior vice president, said in a statement to ABC7 News.
She added: "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."
Kaiser Permanente did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment.
The coronavirus spreads most commonly through respiratory droplets when a person breathes, speaks, sings, coughs, or sneezes — but research has also shown that tiny virus-laden particles called aerosols can linger in the air for minutes or hours in poorly-ventilated indoor areas.
In closed spaces, fans can blow these infectious particles in the direction of another person. That's why the World Health Organization recommends that table or pedestal fans should be avoided in homes when people outside the immediate family are visiting. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also cautions people not to wear masks with built-in valves or vents, which can similarly expel infectious particles into the surrounding air.
Kaiser Permanente San Jose is now undergoing a deep cleaning and infected staffers have been told to isolate at home.
Some of the hospital's employees got their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine just before Christmas, NBC News reported — but it's too early for any of them to have received the full two-dose regimen. It can also take up to a few weeks after the first shot for the body to develop immunity in the form of antibodies against the virus.
That means there's still a chance of vaccinated employees getting sick. The hospital told ABC7 News that emergency staff "would not be expected to have reached immunity when this exposure occurred."
The outbreak arrived at a time when hospitals across the country are already flooded with COVID-19 patients. In the week leading up to Christmas, nearly one-fifth of US hospitals with intensive care units reported that at least 95% of their ICU beds were full, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Intensive care units in the San Francisco Bay Area, where the San Jose hospital is located, only had 5.1% capacity as of Saturday.
Chavez told ABC7 News that the hospital was "taking steps to reinforce safety precautions among staff, including physical distancing and no gathering in break rooms, no sharing of food or beverages, and masks at all times."
She added: "Obviously, we will no longer allow air-powered costumes at our facilities."
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