City Reports Fourteen New COVID-19 Employee Cases

Bloomington, Ind. – Fourteen City workers have reported positive results of COVID-19 tests since the August 4 update, including one Parks and Recreation (Parks) employee, four City Hall (City Hall) employees, two Department of Public Works (DPW) employees, two City of Bloomington Utilities (CBU) employees, three Bloomington Housing Authority (BHA) employees, one Bloomington Transit (BT) employee, and one Bloomington Fire Department (BFD) employee.

Details of the cases are as follows: 

• One Parks employee started experiencing symptoms on August 4 and received a positive COVID-19 test result on August 5. Close contacts have been notified.

• One City Hall employee started experiencing symptoms on August 1 and received a positive COVID-19 test result on August 4. There were no close contacts.

• A second City Hall employee started experiencing symptoms on August 5 and received a positive COVID-19 test result on August 6. There were no close contacts.

• A third City Hall employee started experiencing symptoms on August 6 and received a positive COVID-19 test result on the same day. There were no close contacts.

• A fourth City Hall employee started experiencing symptoms on August 8 and received a positive COVID-19 test result on August 10. There were no close contacts.

• One DPW employee started experiencing symptoms on August 5 and received a positive COVID-19 test result on the same day. Close contacts have been notified.

• A second DPW employee started experiencing symptoms on August 8 and received a positive COVID-19 test result on the same day. There were no close contacts.

• One CBU employee started experiencing symptoms on August 5 and received a positive COVID-19 test result on August 7. There were no close contacts.

• A second CBU employee started experiencing symptoms on August 10 and received a positive COVID-19 test result on the same day. Close contacts have been notified.

• One BFD employee started experiencing symptoms on August 10 and received a positive COVID-19 test result on August 11. There were no close contacts.

• A BT employee started experiencing symptoms on August 4 and received a positive COVID-19 test result on August 5. There were no close contacts.

• Three BHA employees tested positive since the August 4 release. Further details are unknown at the time of this release.

To date, 408 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.  

City of Bloomington Utilities continues its weekly COVID-19 wastewater sampling program. While it is presently in the early stages of development, wastewater sampling has been proposed as a future “early warning” methodology. As of August 1, the most recent date for which data is available, sample concentrations were 2800 gene copies/100mL at the Dillman plant and 320 gene copies/100mL at the Blucher Poole plant. Sampling data is available at https://bton.in/rcAnW.

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.