Inflatable Christmas Costume May Have Spread Coronavirus To 44 Hospital Workers

A California hospital is battling a coronavirus outbreak that’s contaminated a minimum of 44 folks within the emergency room ― together with one who died of issues as a result of an infection ― and it could have been due partially to an inflatable Christmas tree costume.

According to NBC Bay Area, the costume used on the Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center was powered by a fan that will have unfold droplets across the emergency room on Dec. 25:  

“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,” a hospital spokesperson advised native CBS station KPIX. 

The New York Times reported that staffers who have been current started testing constructive on Dec. 27. It’s unknown if any sufferers have been contaminated by the encounter; nonetheless, air-powered costumes at the moment are banned within the facility, the newspaper reported.  

One knowledgeable advised The San Francisco Chronicle that the particular person contained in the costume wouldn’t need to be contaminated to unfold the virus ― solely somebody close by, whose droplets could possibly be unfold by the fan. 

“They’re just acting as the mover of air in a huge way,” UCSF infectious illness knowledgeable Peter Chin-Hong advised the paper. “It’s like a fan that’s kind of multidirectional and random.”

The hospital stays open and the ER is present process a deep cleansing. 

Santa Clara County, the place the hospital is positioned, at the moment has 691 sufferers hospitalized for COVID-19, and simply 10 p.c of ICU beds out there, together with surge capability.