An inflatable costume worn by a staff member on Christmas to bring cheer to fellow emergency room staffers at Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center is suspected to have contributed to a coronavirus outbreak that infected 43 and killed one.
Inflatable costumes, like the one shown in the 2007 photo above (and not related to the outbreak), “are usually powered by a battery-operated fan that sucks air into the suit, helping it keep its shape,” the New York Times noted.
The Times noted that the particular type of costume had not been identified, but was “holiday themed.” Local media reported that it may have been an inflatable Christmas tree costume.
On Saturday, local CBS affiliate KPIX reported:
Hospital officials at Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center confirmed Saturday evening that 43 emergency room staffers have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last week.
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Officials said that one of the infected staffers did “appear briefly in the emergency department on Dec. 25th wearing an air-powered costume.”
“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,” the hospital said in the statement.
One of those staff members has now died, according to the San Francisco Chronicle:
Airborne transmission of the coronavirus, possibly linked to an inflatable Christmas costume, is the likely cause of a 44-person outbreak — and at least one fatality — in the emergency department at Kaiser Permanente San Jose.
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Late Sunday evening, Kaiser Permanente issued a statement that one of the emergency department employees who had been working on Christmas “has passed away as a result of COVID-19 complications.”
An expert told the Chronicle that “the inflatable costume might not have been perfectly sealed, allowing it to push air — and droplets — in various directions. In such a circumstance, the person wearing the costume would not have to be infected with the coronavirus to pose a problem.”
NBC Bay Area reported that there is also an alternate explanation for the outbreak:
[O]ne ER employee who asked not to be identified said there may be another reason for the outbreak.
“They were doing respiratory treatments inside a room that they’re not supposed to,” the employee said.
As Breitbart News reported last week, California reached “zero” percent capacity in intensive care units (ICUs) statewide, though many hospitals do have beds available after using “surge” capacity to accommodate additional patients.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His newest e-book is Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
Photo: file, 2007
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