(BLOOMINGTON) – Two City of Bloomington employees reported positive results of COVID-19 viral tests Wednesday–one employee works in the Sanitation Division of the Public Works Department and the other is an employee of the Parks and Recreation Department, who works at Twin Lakes Recreation Center.
The Sanitation Division employee received a positive result Wednesday, of a COVID-19 viral test administered Sunday, November 15. Thus far asymptomatic, the employee is isolating at home, per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) protocols, and on paid leave. The employee is the second member of the Sanitation Division to have received a positive COVID-19 result this week, but was not identified as a close contact of the first employee, whose result was reported Monday.
Contact tracing has determined that neither co-workers nor members of the public have been placed at risk of exposure to COVID-19 through this employee. Cleaning protocols have been completed to disinfect equipment, vehicles, and facilities with which the employee may have had contact.
Also, a Parks and Recreation employee reported having received a positive result of a COVID-19 viral test Tuesday, November 17. The employee, who is asymptomatic, was tested Monday, November 16 and is currently self-isolating. Close work contacts of this employee have been alerted. Although this employee interacts with the public in their job, no members of the public were identified as close contacts, according to the CDC definition (contact for longer than 15 minutes within a six-foot range, 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). Cleaning protocols are underway at the employee’s work site.
Wednesday’s announcement marks the 23rd and 24th COVID-19 diagnoses among City workers since the start of the pandemic, including those employed by Utilities and Bloomington Transit. An additional City employee reported a positive COVID-19 antibody test result.
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 updates about confirmed cases among staff while protecting employees’ privacy.
