Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
After Kaiser Permanente Hospital officials reported Jan. 2 that between Dec. 27 and Jan. 1, 43 medical staff members in the unit's emergency department in San Jose tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, one of them has died.
That was reported by NBC News, which noted that the COVID-19 outbreak at that San Jose hospital was probably caused by a staff member who dressed up as a red-nosed Christmas tree in the emergency department.
The costume, which was air-powered through a fan, was used with the intention of bringing joy to the medical center on Christmas Day, which could have circulated drops containing the coronavirus, The Washington Post noted.
In a statement to The Post, Irene Chavez, senior vice president and area manager of the hospital, said that "obviously, this is a 'very unusual' situation involving a well-meaning staff member acting on his or her own without notice or approval.
"Any exposure, if it had occurred, would have been completely innocent and quite accidental, as the individual had no symptoms of covid," he added.
The outbreak is under investigation and contact tracing, to notify those patients or staff who may have been exposed to the virus.
The situation comes after a spike in COVID-19 cases in Santa Clara County after many disobeyed warnings from health experts during the holiday season.
"It's quite possible that we'll see an increase after the season, in the sense of Christmas, New Year, and as I've described it, as one increase after another"
Dr. Anthony Fauci to CNN
A mutant strain of the coronavirus that is believed to be more contagious than the existing strain has public health experts concerned that the new wave could have catastrophic consequences.
It should be noted that during the weekend, the U.S. exceeded 350,000 deaths from COVID-19, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The capacity of the Bay Area's Intensive Care Units (ICUs) as of Sunday was 8.4 percent, according to the state's COVID-19 website.
Los Angeles County, which has positioned itself as the epicenter of COVID-19 nationally, is part of a Southern California region that reports 0.0 percent ICU capacity, as does the San Joaquin Valley region, which also has zero ICU capacity.
One South Bay hospital reported that it maximized its capacity last week and sent patients to extra beds.
