Inflatable Costume Could Be Responsible for Coronavirus Outbreak at California Hospital
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, 44 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.
