(BLOOMINGTON) – One employee of the Bloomington Police Department (BPD) and another of the Bloomington Fire Department (BFD) reported receiving positive results of COVID-19 viral tests over the last week. Neither of the employees was identified as a close contact of a previous COVID-19 case at the City.
Details of each case are as follows:
- The BPD employee, who works at the Central Emergency Dispatch Center, began experiencing symptoms on Thursday, January 28 and received a positive result on Friday, January 29 of a test administered the same day. The employee last worked onsite January 28. 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.) Cleaning protocols of the employee’s workspace and shared areas were completed.
- The BFD employee began experiencing symptoms on Sunday, January 31, was tested Monday, February 1, and received a positive result Wednesday, February 3. The employee’s last shift was Thursday, January 28. No close contacts were identified among co-workers or the general public. Cleaning protocols of the employee’s workspace and shared areas and vehicles were completed.
Today’s announcement brings to the total of 68 positive COVID-19 viral test results that 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) and transit system (BT). Sixteen total cases were reported during the eight months from March through October 2020. That monthly rate rose eight-fold in November, when 16 cases were reported within the single month, and rose another 38% in December (22 cases). January saw the monthly rate decline 45% to 12 positive cases. A department-specific chart of COVID-19 cases among City employees, together with other new City-related COVID-19 cases, may be found here. Â
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.