An employee working a Christmas shift at Kaiser Permanent San Jose Medical Center has died of COVID-19. The worker was at least one of 43 staff members who tested positive for coronavirus in recent days, the onslaught of which was probably linked to a staff member who wore provocative holiday attire.
The emergency department staff member who was briefly present on Christmas Day wore an air-powered, holiday-themed outfit, according to a hospital executive. KNTV-TV, the San Jose NBC station that first reported the outbreak, reported that the costume was one inflatable christmas tree.
Inflatable costumes are usually battery-powered and use a fan to propel the outfit. But such a fan can also cause virus particles to move farther into the room.
KNTV-TV reported that the deceased was a woman working as a registration clerk in the emergency department.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this terrible loss. We are supporting our staff during this difficult time, ”the hospital said in a statement issued late Sunday.
In a statement Saturday, Irene Chavez, senior vice president and field manager at Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center, said officials were investigating whether the outfit contributed to the outbreak.
“Any contagion, if it had happened, would have been completely innocent, and quite accidental, as an individual. [wearing the costume] There were no Covid symptoms and just tried to lift the spirits of those around him during a very stressful time, ”Chavez said.
“If anything, this should serve as a real reminder that the virus has spread, and often it is without symptoms, and we should all be vigilant,” Chavez said.
It was not immediately clear whether the man wearing the costume later tested positive for coronavirus.
Chavez said the hospital would no longer allow air-powered costumes at its facilities and was taking steps to strengthen safety precautions among staff, including not gathering in the break room, not sharing food and drink and not wearing masks at all times.
The highly contagious coronavirus is usually spread by splashes from a person’s mouth and nose, such as by breathing, talking, coughing and sneezing and usually landing six feet or more from a person before falling to the ground. People can become very infected with the virus even without showing any signs of illness.
Strong drafts of air can help infect coronavirus to others. In one such case in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, a pre-sympathetic man who had just returned from Wuhan, the epicenter of a global epidemic, was having lunch with his family at a restaurant. Scientists concluded that the man infected two other families sitting at a neighboring table about three feet away; They suspect that the index patient’s infected drops are riding on an air flow operated by the air conditioning system.
Located in the middle of Silicon Valley, San Jose, Northern California’s most populous county, is the largest city in Santa Clara County, whose hospitals are suffering from severe congestion in the worst outbreak of the epidemic. On New Year’s Day, the ICU of Santa Clara County occupied 97% of the standard capacity of the bed.
According to an analysis by the Times, the evening Clara is home to about 20 million people and the Bay Area has the worst cases of coronavirus cases and deaths in any county in the past week. There have been more than 74,000 coronavirus cases and more than 40,440 Covid-19 deaths.
Last week, county officials said hospitals have stretched to the limit, with 50 to 60 patients waiting in bed in the emergency room every day.
Most likely, the only way to move the patient to the ICU bed is because a Covid-19 patient has died, said Dr. Emergency Room Physician at O’Connor Hospital in San Jose and St. Louis Regional Hospital in Gilroy. .
Every bed in the ICU at St. Louis Regional Hospital is full, and patients are now in surgery beds, the hospital’s chief operating operating officer Gloria de la Merced said last week. “This level of hospitalization has never happened during my career.” “If we go beyond the capacity to bounce, everyone will be affected – more people in our community will know someone who has died.”
Around Santa Clara County, the daily coronavirus case rate is Oct Oct. 10 times more than 10. “What we see now is not normal,” said Dr. Ahmed Kamal, Santa Clara County’s director of health preparedness. “.
“This has been an epidemic situation for the last few weeks, and there are no signs of it quitting,” Kamal said.
Kamal urged people to wear masks, stay away socially and cancel gatherings.
