'She was just spreading joy': Colleague defends woman who wore Christmas Tree costume linked to COVID-19 outbreak at hospital that killed one and infected 44
A nurse has leaped to the defense of her colleague who wore a Christmas Tree costume now linked to a COVID-19 outbreak that killed one and infected 44 at a California hospital.
The unidentified hospital employee wore the novelty air-powered inflatable costume on the wards at the Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center on Christmas Day.
In the days that followed at least 44 employees tested positive for coronavirus including one female staffer who later died.
It is now thought that the costume may have blown virus droplets across the ward from the female wearer, who did not know she had COVID-19 at the time.
It is not clear if any hospital patients or visitors were also infected.
A colleague at the hospital who was working the morning of the incident told Mercury News the woman had wanted to provide some 'innocent' festive relief to her coworkers and patients.
'She was just spreading joy,' the nurse who did not want to be named told the outlet.
The giant inflatable Christmas tree costume linked with spreading COVID-19 to at least 43 California hospital staff, killing one, has been pictured on the wards
The nurse said her colleague had surprised everyone at the central nurses station at the emergency department by appearing dressed in the costume sometime between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. December 25.
'You just see this Christmas tree coming bounding down towards you, and it makes you smile. It was a brief moment of levity, and you get back to working,' she recalled.
She said she stayed six feet from the woman in the costume in line with social distancing guidelines and that she was wearing a mask and a face shield alongside everyone else in the emergency department.
She told how the festive gesture had been 'spur of the moment' and insisted that previous reports of a party or gathering of people around the woman in the costume were incorrect.
'[They] painted us in a light of being irresponsible when we've been working our butts off to save lives. We're not seeing our families. It portrayed us as not caring about our community,' she said.
She added that all staff wear masks and 'don't hug' and that no one wore Santa hats in the ER this year in case they got in the way of PPE.
A nurse has leaped to the defense of her colleague who wore a Christmas Tree costume now linked to a COVID-19 outbreak that killed one and infected 44 at a California hospital (above)
But on December 27, two days after the brief merriment, the nurse said she started showing symptoms of COVID-19.
Many colleagues working Christmas Day also began feeling ill and showing symptoms around the same time, she added.
The woman wearing the costume had no symptoms on Christmas Day but later also tested positive.
Between December 27 and January 1, at least 44 staffers at the hospital tested positive for the virus.
Officials announced Sunday that one staff member had died from COVID-19.
The woman who died has not been named but is said to be a registration clerk who was working a Christmas Day shift.
Her death hit the workforce hard like 'a death in the family,' the nurse told Mercury News, adding that the woman in the suit felt a 'heavy burden' over her passing.
'We're physically exhausted and emotionally already taxed, and this is just more on top of it,' said the nurse.
'People don't realize the toll that it takes and just what it takes for us to come in and do what we do.
The unidentified hospital employee wore the novelty air-powered inflatable costume on the wards at the Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center on Christmas Day
'Yes, we've chosen this profession and we're all very good at our jobs, but that doesn't make it any less stressful or any less emotional or less devastating when you lose a family member.'
The nurse added that she was struggling to get her head around the idea that the costume could have sparked the cluster of cases.
'It just doesn't seem completely plausible that it was all her because it was just a moment in time compared to what we deal with all the time,' the nurse said.
'How could it be that if this occurred at 9 in the morning that people were being infected at three o'clock in the afternoon? Could this happen? Yes. But was it tragically coincidental or something else? We just don't know.'
The Santa Clara County Health Department is investigating whether the costume may have caused the outbreak via its internal battery-operated fan which inflated the outfit and may have blown out virus droplets.
Many of those infected had already been given the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine before the outbreak.
But the hospital said they 'would not be expected to have reached immunity when this exposure occurred.'
A view of a Kaiser Permanente staffer getting vaccinated on December 14 above. Many of those infected had already been given the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine before the outbreak
Officials added: 'It is important not only for everyone to get vaccinated, but to receive the required two doses of vaccine to be protected.'
Health officials say people must receive the two doses of the vaccine to get the maximum protection and the first dose's partial effectiveness usually kicks in only about 10 days after the first vaccination.
Irene Chavez, senior vice president and area manager, Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center said in a statement that it was 'a highly unusual situation involving a well-intentioned staff member acting on their own without advance notice or approval'.
'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,' she said.
'Obviously, we will no longer allow air-powered costumes at our facilities,' Chavez said.
'At the same time, we are taking steps to reinforce safety precautions among staff, including physical distancing and no gathering in break rooms, no sharing of food or beverages, and masks at all times,' the hospital said, as per ABC7.
Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, a professor of medicine and infectious disease expert at UCSF told the paper the costume was likely 'acting as the mover of air in a huge way. It's like a fan that's kind of multidirectional and random.'
The hospital is currently conducting contact tracing to determine if other staff, patients or visitors may have been exposed to the virus.
It has also introduced weekly testing for its staff.
The hospital's emergency department is still open and safe to receive patients and all areas of the department are undergoing a deep cleaning, while those infected go into isolation.
Nearly 40,000 health care workers at Kaiser Permanente have already received COVID-19 vaccines and more are anticipated soon.
California reached a new daily record for new coronavirus cases Monday, with more than 74,000, according to analysis by the Los Angeles Times.
The Golden State also marked its sixth-highest death toll on record with 379 kiled Monday.
In total, 2.45 million cases have been recorded and 27,003 have died in California.
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