(BLOOMINGTON) – A fourth employee of the City of Bloomington has tested positive for COVID-19.
The employee is one of eleven employees of the Bloomington Fire Department (BFD) tested last week as a result of an internal contact tracing process launched upon a fellow fire department employee’s positive test result (announced Wednesday, June 24). The other ten results were negative.
The eleven employees identified through the contact tracing process followed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines for those who may have been exposed to COVID-19 until their test results were returned.
Upon learning of the single positive test result on late Friday, June 26, the department placed the employee on paid leave. Asymptomatic as yet, the employee is anticipated to be cleared for duty by the department’s medical provider July 4 if asymptomatic for 72 hours by that time.
Monday’s announcement marks the fourth City employee to be diagnosed with COVID-19, and the department’s third. The fire department employee whose positive result was announced June 24 continues to self-quarantine and should be cleared to return to work on July 1, if remaining asymptomatic.
The City is implementing all CDC and Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) protocols in addition to the protocols and contact tracing the BFD conducts on top of state and national requirements. The station and apparatus that the affected employees came into contact with were thoroughly decontaminated, and department employees were reminded of protocols in place to limit spread. The contact tracing process ascertained that members of the public were not placed at risk of exposure by either fire department employee diagnosed with COVID-19.
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.
