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Instead of spreading Christmas cheer, an inflatable holiday costume may have helped spread COVID-19 to dozens of employees at a California hospital, according to a report.
Forty-three employees at Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center contracted the virus between December 27 and New Year’s Day, and officials say the outbreak could be linked to an employee who entered the facility wearing a “Air suit” on Christmas Day, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
The hospital is investigating the possibility of the costume fan spreading airborne respiratory droplets exhaled by a person infected with the virus throughout the emergency department.
“Any exposure if it had occurred would have been completely innocent and completely accidental as the individual had no symptoms of COVID and was only seeking to boost the morale of those around him during a very stressful time,” Irene Chavez, senior vice president and regional manager of the center told the newspaper.
“If anything, this should serve as a very real reminder that the virus is widespread, and often without symptoms, and we all need to be vigilant,” Chavez added.
Doctors, nurses, technicians and assistants who tested positive for COVID-19 over the past week will now self-isolate as officials conduct contact tracing and staff members deep clean the emergency department from the hospital, officials said.
Explosive suits are now “clearly” prohibited in the health facility, Chavez said.
Some 40,000 healthcare workers at Kaiser Permanente in California have already been vaccinated against the deadly virus, but it is not known if any of the infected workers were among those vaccinated, according to the report.
It is also unclear exactly what type of inflatable costume the staff member was wearing.
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