City Reports Fourteen New COVID-19 Cases

Bloomington, Ind.–Fourteen City workers have reported positive results of COVID-19 laboratory tests since the December 30 update, including two Parks & Recreation (Parks) employees, one Bloomington Police Department (BPD) employee, two Utilities (CBU) employees, two City Hall employees, three Bloomington Fire Department (BFD) employees, two Bloomington Housing Authority (BHA) employees, and two employees of the Department of Public Works (DPW). 

 

None of the cases were linked to any previous COVID-19 case at the City, and no members of the general public were identified as close contacts as a result of exposure to these employees in the course of their work.  

 

“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: 

 

A Parks employee started experiencing symptoms on December 31 and received a positive COVID-19 test result on January 1. There were no close contacts. 

 

A second Parks employee started experiencing symptoms on January 1 and received a positive COVID-19 test result on January 2. There were no close contacts. 

 

One DPW employee started experiencing symptoms on December 28, receiving a positive COVID-19 test result on January 3. There were no close contacts. 

 

A second DPW employee received a positive COVID-19 test result on January 5. There were no close contacts. It is unclear when symptoms began. 

 

A BPD employee received a positive COVID-19 test result on December 31. There were no close contacts. It is unclear when symptoms began.

 

A City Hall employee started experiencing symptoms on December 31, and received a positive COVID-19 test result on the same day. There were no close contacts.

 

A second City Hall employee started experiencing symptoms on January 1, and received a positive COVID-19 test result on January 5. There were no close contacts.

 

A CBU employee started experiencing symptoms on December 25, and received a positive COVID-19 test result on December 31. There were no close contacts.

 

A second CBU employee started experiencing symptoms on January 1, and received a positive COVID-19 test result on January 2. There were no close contacts.

 

A BHA employee started experiencing symptoms on December 29, and received a positive COVID-19 test result on January 1. There were no close contacts.

 

A second BHA employee started experiencing symptoms on January 3, and received a positive COVID-19 test result on January 6. There were no close contacts.

 

A BFD employee started experiencing symptoms on January 3, and received a positive COVID-19 test result on the same day. There were no close contacts.

 

A second BFD employee started experiencing symptoms on January 3, and received a positive COVID-19 test result on January 5. There were no close contacts.

 

A third BFD employee started experiencing symptoms on January 4, and received a positive COVID-19 test result on January 6. There were no close contacts.

 

Including today’s report, 174 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 (Bloomington Transit), 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 available at https://bton.in/SOHjE. Other City-related updates about the COVID-19 pandemic are available at bloomington.in.gov/covid19.  

 

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.