Hospital Where Inflatable Christmas Costume Was Linked to COVID Outbreak Fined $40,000

Remember the Northern California hospital that had a deadly coronavirus outbreak last month that was linked to an employee going around an ER in an inflatable Christmas-themed costume? Well, Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center has now been fined $40,000 for failing to report its outbreak within an acceptable timeframe. According to CNN, Santa Clara County said the fine was “as a result of Kaiser’s failure to timely report 43 cases involving personnel who tested positive between Dec. 27, 2020 and Jan. 1, 2021.” One employee died in the outbreak, the cause of which is still being investigated. However, a hospital official said the outbreak “may” have been caused by an employee who wore an “air-powered costume” in the emergency department before Christmas. Inflatable costumes are now banned from the hospital.