BLOOMINGTON – A City Hall employee, a City of Bloomington Utilities (CBU) employee, and a Parks and Recreation department employee reported receiving positive results of COVID-19 viral tests over the last week.
None of these employees was a close contact of a previous COVID-19 case at the City. (Close contact is defined by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as someone who was within six feet of an infected person for at least 15 minutes starting from two days before illness onset – or, for asymptomatic clients, two days prior to positive specimen collection – until the time the patient is isolated.) Details of each case are as follows:
- The City Hall employee began experiencing symptoms on Wednesday, April 21 and received a positive COVID-19 viral test result on Friday, April 23. Coworkers identified as close contacts of the employee have been notified. No close contacts were identified among the general public, with whom the employee does not regularly interact in their work. Cleaning protocols of shared workspace and equipment the employee used have been completed.
- The CBU employee began experiencing symptoms on Wednesday, April 21 and received a positive COVID-19 viral test result on Saturday, April 24. Coworkers identified as close contacts of the employee have been notified. No close contacts were identified among the general public, with whom the employee does not regularly interact in their work. Cleaning protocols of shared workspace and equipment the employee used have been completed.
- The Parks and Recreation department employee began experiencing symptoms on Saturday, April 24 and received a positive COVID-19 viral test result on Sunday, April 25. No close contacts were identified among the employee’s coworkers or the general public, with whom the employee does not regularly interact in their work. Cleaning protocols of shared workspace and equipment the employee used have been completed.
Today’s announcement marks 82 positive COVID-19 viral test results reported since the start of the pandemic by City workers, including those employed by the municipal corporations that operate the water utility (City of Bloomington Utilities) and transit system (BT), and public housing (Bloomington Housing Authority).
Sixteen total cases were reported during the eight months from March through October 2020. That monthly rate rose more than eight-fold in November, when 17 cases were reported within the single month, and rose another 29% in December (22 cases). January saw the monthly rate decline 40% to 13 positive cases; February’s four employee cases represented a 69% decline from January’s monthly rate, and the three cases reported by employees in March marked a subsequent 25 percent decline. Thus far in April, seven cases have been reported. Data about COVID-19 cases among City employees, in the county, the state, and the nation are presented on this online dashboard.
The City of Bloomington is committed to sharing information about how its operations and workforce are affected by this public health emergency and will continue to provide weekly updates about confirmed cases among staff while protecting employees’ privacy.
