Following a COVID-19 outbreak that has totaled 60 cases and one death, Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center has been slapped with a public health order violation.
A notice was issued on Tuesday because of the hospital's failure to quickly report the original 43 cases involving workers who tested positive, according to Santa Clara County.
Kaiser officials previously confirmed that the 43 emergency room staffers tested positive between December 27, 2020, and January 1, 2021.
The county's public health order states that employers are legally required to submit information about confirmed positive cases within four hours of learning about them.
The county said the penalty for each violation is $1,000, and the Kaiser hospital is being fined for a total of $43,000 for its 43 violations.
Kaiser officials have blamed a staffer wearing an inflatable Christmas tree costume on December 25 for triggering the outbreak.
However, county officials said the cause of the outbreak is still being investigated.
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