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A staff member dressed as a smiling, red-nosed Christmas tree strolled through the emergency department at a San Jose hospital on Christmas Day, hoping to provide holiday cheer. Days later, a coronavirus outbreak swept through the Kaiser Permanente San Jose Medical Center, eventually infecting 43 employees and killing one. Hospital officials now say the “air-powered” Christmas costume is likely to blame for the 44 positive tests, all recorded between Dec. 27 and Friday. Experts said the fan inside the costume could have blown coronavirus-laden droplets throughout the department. (Peiser, 1/4)

A coronavirus outbreak at a convent near Albany has infected nearly half of its roughly 100 residents, leaving nine sisters dead in December, the convent and local officials said on Sunday. The outbreak took place in the St. Joseph’s Provincial House in Latham, N.Y., the headquarters of the Albany Province of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet. Residents include sisters who are retired and who have long-term health care needs. (Zaveri, 1/3)

How badly do you want that rotisserie chicken? A coronavirus outbreak at a Costco in Washington state has reportedly seen 145 of its 383 staff test positive for the disease—but the store is still open to any card-carrying customers who are bold enough to step inside. Local network KOMO News reports the outbreak hit the Yakima County store and that the number of cases rocketed over the past week. Just 68 people had tested positive on Thursday, but that shot up to 145 by Monday. Even though county health officials have said they expect that number to rise further as more employees are tested, the store has been allowed to remain open after implementing some unspecified recommendations to mitigate the spread. (Ross, 12/31)

At least 26 residents of a Belgian retirement home have died since a visit by a volunteer dressed as Saint Nicholas who has since tested positive for Covid-19. The deaths at the Hemelrijck home in Mol, near Antwerp, have prompted the local municipality to criticise the “completely irresponsible” organisers of the festive visit, although the cause of the infection is not yet certain. (Boffey, 12/31)

As communities across the country feel the pain of a surge in coronavirus cases, funeral homes in the hot spot of Southern California say they must turn away grieving families as they run out of space for the bodies piling up. The head of the state funeral directors association says mortuaries are being inundated as the United States nears a grim tally of 350,000 COVID-19 deaths. More than 20 million people in the country have been infected, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. (Weber, 1/3)

KHN: ‘Last Responders’ Brace For Surge In Covid Deaths Across US

Funeral director Kevin Spitzer has been overwhelmed with covid-related deaths in the small city of Aberdeen, South Dakota. He and his two colleagues at the Spitzer-Miller Funeral Home have been working 12-15 hours a day, seven days a week, to keep up with the demand in the community of 26,000. The funerals are sparsely attended, which would have been unthinkable before the pandemic. (Loose, 1/4)