Has an inflatable disguise created a cluster in a hospital?

A California hospital has been investigating since Monday to find out whether an inflatable costume worn by one of its employees on Christmas Day could have created a cluster. The coronavirus outbreak has infected dozens of people and caused one death.

After Christmas, at least 44 employees of the Kaiser Permanente center in San Jose (United States) contracted Covid-19 and one of them died, according to a spokesperson for the hospital. The hospital center opened an investigation to determine if a disguise worn by an employee was involved. This is an innocent inflatable Christmas tree, with a big smile and a big red nose.

This is the air powered costume an employee wore in the Emergency Dept.of Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center Xmas day to spread cheer. Turns out employee unknowingly had covid , now 43 employees have covid .Kaiser investigating if costume blower helped spread the virus. pic.twitter.com/DLLi8z5e2T

– Marianne Favro (@mariannefavro) January 3, 2021

Caregivers not fully vaccinated

The ventilator that the costume was equipped with could have helped spread the virus. Any possible exposure to Covid would be “completely unintentional and accidental”, said the spokesperson. The person in disguise “showed no symptoms of the virus and was only looking to boost the morale of those around him during a very stressful time,” he said.

According to NBC, the deceased was an emergency administrative worker. According to another employee quoted by the chain, the epidemic could have been caused by respiratory care carried out in a room that was not designed for this purpose.

Some employees had already received a first dose of a vaccine against Covid-19 but it takes about two weeks for the body to produce enough antibodies. Kaiser Permanente offered rapid tests to all of its employees and performed deep disinfection in emergency rooms.