Kaiser Hospital officials announced on Saturday that 43 emergency personnel at Kaiser Permanente in San Jose tested positive for COVID-19 between December 27 and January 1.
The hospital is investigating whether an incident in which a staff member briefly appeared in the emergency department on Christmas day, wearing an air-powered suit with a fan, could have led to the spread of air droplets around the hospital.
“Using our proven infection protocols, we investigate the outbreak and use contact tracking to personally notify and test staff or patients who have been exposed during this time based on the CDC and public health guidelines,” a spokesman said. in a statement.
The hospital says it will no longer allow air-conditioned suits to any facility.
Kaiser said the employee wearing the suit had no symptoms at the time and was just trying to lift his spirits at a stressful time. But an ER employee who asked not to be identified said there could be another reason for the outbreak.
“They were doing respiratory treatments inside a room that they shouldn’t have done,” the employee said.
The hospital said the emergency department was undergoing a thorough clean-up, and officials said the hospital was open and safe for patients to receive care.
However, the employee said that Kaiser’s statement that he would do a deep cleaning of the department after the outbreak was untrue.
“This is a lie,” the employee said. “All they did was go in and do a deep cleaning of the small break room. The other parts of the emergency department did not do it and there was no deep cleaning “.
The hospital is working to quickly test all emergency department staff and doctors for the virus, and anyone who tests positive or has symptoms will be quarantined as recommended by the Centers for Disease Control, hospital officials said.
“Even as the vaccine begins to be delivered in our communities, given the prevalence of COVID-19 in the community, we are all vulnerable and it remains essential that everyone continue to use methods to protect ourselves and others – especially masks, hand washing, avoiding meetings and social distancing, ”the statement said.
Kaiser said some of the infected health workers received the first dose of COVID vaccine, but would not have expected to reach immunity when the exposure occurred.
However, several health care workers told NBC Bay Area that they do not believe the hospital is doing enough to protect them.