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January 3

air-powered costume

"A coronavirus outbreak at the Kaiser Permanente San Jose Emergency Department, possibly caused by an inflatable Christmas costume, has affected 43 staff members so far, all of whom tested positive within the past week, officials said."[1]

The costume is also described in the article as "air-powered". Can anyone explain what the heck an air-powered costume is, and how it could infect 43 people, assuming everyone was wearing masks and being reasonably sane about physical distancing? Do they know if this is the new super-contagious variant? Thanks. 2601:648:8202:96B0:0:0:0:313A (talk) 08:08, 3 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The only source I saw is the SF Chronicle article linked to; all other news stories appear derived from that one. The article is confusing; in particular, I found this quoted statement puzzling: "Any exposure, if it occurred, would have been completely innocent, ..." because (a) we know exposure occurred, and (b) if people got thereby infected, it was obviously harmful. While masks offer some protection for the wearer, the main effect is protection for the people around a possibly infectious wearer. They stop droplets but not airborne particles. The inflated costume must have been leaking air that was laden with virus particles into an enclosed space, which the affected staff members may have kept breathing in also after Santa's brief visit. --Lambiam 09:25, 3 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

By "completely innocent" they meant "not malicious behavior". A reserved way of saying, "Whoops, somebody fucked up big-time!" --47.152.93.24 (talk) 21:27, 3 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

But the innocence was ascribed to the exposure, not the (presumably well-meaning) costume wearer. Also, if a moving van drives over your chihuahua, wouldn't it be peculiar if a spokesperson for the movers then states, "Any dog flattening, if it occurred, was not malicious"? --Lambiam 23:55, 3 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

It's standard bureaucratic ass-covering mumbo-jumbo. --47.152.93.24 (talk) 20:33, 7 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

An "air-powered costume" or "inflatable costume" is basically a wearable character balloon. It allows the user to portray a character that is significantly bulkier or differently shaped without the use of heavy padding and prostheses. The air blower keeps the costume filled out so that it retains its shape. Here's a link to a selection of such costumes at a retailer: https://www.spirithalloween.com/thumbnail/halloween-costumes/costume-themes/inflatables/pc/4742/c/4833/4751.uts --Khajidha (talk) 12:39, 3 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

And some Christmas themed "air suits". Presumably different people clambering in and out of the same plastic suit would be a good way to share a virus around. The Covid-19 virus can survive for up to 6 days on a non-porus surface [2] and if some of them inflated the suit by mouth, I can imagine that would be an even grater hazard. Alansplodge (talk) 17:00, 3 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks all. Picture of the costume in question is supposedly here. Pardon the twitter link. 2601:648:8202:96B0:0:0:0:313A (talk) 23:50, 4 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Technical question

Hi, speaking of the last American elections, Joe Biden won the same number of states as Trump; exactly twenty-five. Why then in the entry of the states obtained by Biden, (25 to be precise), is it highlighted in bold as if it meant "a majority, and therefore a victory in the conquered states?" The states won - I repeat - are the same as his opponent, not one more. Should it be left highlighted? Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 93.41.100.198 (talk) 20:20, 3 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Because DC makes it exactly one more thingy than the other side. I believe winning by 26 to 24 always trumps anything involving non-state thingies but am not sure. Technically they tied that line 28 to 28 or maybe 25.95 to 25.05 is better but I've never seen it scored that way. At any rate winning any of these 3 counts is only correlated to winning not a guarantee so this is mostly just trivia that interests some Americans. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 20:57, 3 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

For the record, this is about the infobox in 2020 United States presidential election and it says 25 + DC + NE-02 with the whole thing in bold. The last time a president-elect didn't win the most states when DC counts was 1976 United States presidential election where Jimmy Carter won 23 + DC. PrimeHunter (talk) 21:43, 3 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Also it's never been tested if half the states+DC would trump half the states+≥2 substates that voted opposite their state but it probably would as DC is the most similar thing to a 51st state. Sagittarian Milky Way (talk) 22:12, 3 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The number of states won is meaningless trivia. What counts is electoral votes. Someone could theoretically win the election by winning just 11 states. --Khajidha (talk) 03:48, 4 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]