City Reports Eleven New COVID-19 Cases in Past Week

Bloomington, Ind. - Eleven City workers have reported positive results of COVID-19 laboratory tests since the December 2 update, including six Bloomington Fire Department (BFD) employees, three City of Bloomington Utilities (CBU) employees, one City Hall employee, and one Bloomington Transit (BT) employee. This is the highest number of cases among the City workforce to be reported in a single week since the beginning of the pandemic. Details of each case are as follows: 

• A CBU employee started experiencing symptoms on Thursday, December 2, receiving a positive COVID-19 test result on Friday, December 3. No close contacts were identified among the employee’s co-workers or the general public.

• A second CBU employee started experiencing symptoms on Friday, December 3, receiving a positive COVID-19 test result on Wednesday, December 8. No close contacts were identified among the employee’s co-workers or the general public.

• A third CBU employee started experiencing symptoms on Friday, December 3, receiving a positive COVID-19 test result on Wednesday, December 8. No close contacts were identified among the employee’s co-workers or the general public. 

The aforementioned employees work in three different divisions of CBU.  

• Five BFD employees started experiencing symptoms on Sunday, December 5 and received a positive test result the same day. These employees had last worked the same shift at the same station on Friday, December 3. No additional close contacts were identified among the employees’ co-workers or the general public.

• A sixth BFD employee at the same station whose last shift had been Saturday, December 4 began experiencing symptoms Tuesday, December 7, receiving a positive test the same day. No close contacts were identified among the employee’s co-workers or the general public.

• A Bloomington Transit (BT) employee began experiencing symptoms on Monday, December 6, receiving a positive result on Wednesday, December 8. No close contacts were identified among the employee’s co-workers or the general public.

• A City Hall employee began experiencing symptoms on Sunday, November 28, receiving a positive result the same day. The case was not reported until Friday, December 3. No close contacts were identified among the employee’s co-workers or the general public.

“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. 

Including today’s report, 138 positive COVID-19 viral test results have been reported since the start of the pandemic by City workers, including those employed by the municipal corporations that operate the water utility (CBU), transit system (BT), and public housing (Bloomington Housing Authority). Additionally, COVID-19 was listed among the causes of death of one City worker.  

Data about COVID-19 cases among City employees, in the county, the state and the nation are presented at this online dashboard. Other City-related updates about the COVID-19 pandemic are assembled here.  

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.