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Description
In today’s video address titled, "Ten Tough Weeks", Mayor Hamilton salutes the community for pulling together during the COVID-19 crisis. Thanks to the tireless efforts of so many workers, volunteers, and families, Bloomington is weathering these rough times. As we move forward, staying safe and coming back stronger is up to all of us. Keep taking care of Bloomington, and each other.
A
Let's
take
a
moment
and
think
about
our
past
10
weeks
and
progress
we've
made
10
weeks.
Is
that
really
all
it's
been
since
our
world
was
upended?
It
was
March
11th
when
the
World
Health
Organization
declared
a
global
pandemic
from
the
coronavirus
and
since
then,
every
day
has
brought
new
facts
and
new
challenges.
We've
seen
fatality
counts,
rising
unemployment,
falling
we've,
seen
hospital
wards
fill
up
and
streets
and
workplaces
eerily
empty.
A
It's
been
10
tough
weeks
around
the
world
around
the
u.s.
and
right
here
in
Bloomington,
people
have
gotten
sick,
some
desperately
some
fatally.
We've
lost
family
members
and
neighbors
thousands
have
applied
for
unemployment.
Tens
of
thousands
of
students
left
early
for
hometowns,
hundreds
of
local
businesses
and
nonprofits
have
shut
down
or
trimmed
operations.
A
Stress
has
hit
many
very
hard
just
over
the
past
10
weeks,
but
this
is
Bloomington.
We
have
stepped
up
and
stood
up
and
held
together
magnificently
in
these
10
weeks.
For
that,
as
your
mayor,
I
want
to
say,
thank
you
first
to
our
health
care
workers,
thanks
to
all
of
you
who
risk
your
lives
to
save
ours,
from
hospitals
to
clinics,
to
senior
care
centers
to
pharmacies
to
ambulances
every
day
you
show
up
to
work
and
you
are
heroes
to
us.
A
Let
me
add
a
special
thanks
to
everyone
who
entertains
us
artists
who
sang
or
danced
or
acted
or
just
were
online
and
on
social
media,
with
crazy
new
techniques
to
help
keep
us
sane
and
grounded
even
laughing
and
crying
as
only
art
can
I
found.
Art
and
creative
people
seem
more
important
than
ever
in
these.
Oh
so
unusual
times
as
your
mayor
expresses
special
thanks
to
my
fellow
700
plus
city
workers,
all
of
whom
have
kept
working
during
these
10
weeks.
A
Just
as
an
example,
one
resident
told
us
after
the
big
early
April
storm
blew
over
trash
and
recycling
bins
left
out
for
pickup
leaving
a
terrible
mess.
It
was
none
other
than
Rhea
Carter,
the
director
of
sanitation,
who
went
out
at
5:00
a.m.
to
start
cleaning
up
folks
front
yards.
The
resident
who
observed
her,
told
us
that
inspired
him
to
follow
suit
and
he
spent
the
next
three
hours
picking
up
trash,
that's
above
and
beyond
an
emblematic
of
all
your
commitments.
Thanks,
Rhea
and
all
of
you.
A
Our
teachers
deserve
special
thanks
as
they
suddenly
went
from
full
rooms,
inspiring
and
caring
for
young
people
to
new
and
strange
at
home
learning
plans
at
a
distance
teachers
who
give
their
heart
and
soul
to
their
students
every
day
had
to
figure
out
how
to
keep
thousands
of
our
young
residents
learning
and
safe
in
all
new
ways.
And,
finally,
let
me
share
a
big
Bloomington.
A
Thanks
to
all
the
parents
and
grandparents,
our
families
who
often
upended
their
own
work
and
family
lives
with
different
work
hours
or
no
work
hours
with
kids
now
home,
not
at
school,
jumping
in
whatever
it
took
to
keep
things
going.
Camp
counselor,
teacher
nurse,
coach,
music,
teacher
scientists,
you
name
it
families
adjusted
to
this
new
world
over
these
ten
weeks,
and
so
many
have
done
so
splendidly.
Maybe
even
some
of
us
learn
new
grammar
rules
or
math
equations
or
science
facts.
We
never
knew
if
you
haven't
felt
personally
thanked.
A
A
A
We've
seen
dozens
of
restaurants
commit
to
providing
free
meals
that
volunteers
distribute
weekly
through
the
Monroe
County
Food
Train
we've
seen
little
surprises
to
delight
and
boost
each
other,
pop-up
Christmas
lights,
trees,
full
of
balloons
and
yard
signs
for
graduates,
as
these
countless
individual
stories
were
happening.
Of
course,
local
institutions
have
been
ascent
for
many
weeks.
The
city
government
has
worked
in
tandem
with
county
government,
including
the
Health
Department
and
IU
health
and
Indiana
University
to
coordinate
health
efforts
locally.
A
As
a
community,
we
have
successfully
flattened
that
curve
and
protected
our
healthcare
workers
and
systems
from
a
calamitous
surge
of
patients.
10
deaths
in
our
County
is
10
too
many,
but
it
could
have
been
much
much
worse.
Our
local
efforts
have
paid
dividends
in
more
people
alive
today,
we've
seen
other
damage
as
well:
local
restaurants,
arts
and
humanitarian
groups,
and
so
many
small
businesses
have
been
forced
into
very
rough
waters.
A
I
asked
several
community
leaders
to
develop
a
plan
to
help
preserve
jobs
and
these
employers,
the
Greater
Bloomington
Chamber
of
Commerce,
the
Bloomington
Economic
Development
Corporation,
cd5
Bloomington,
the
Mill
and
others
worked
feverishly
to
assemble
a
plan
and
within
30
days
they
put
together
two
and
a
half
million
dollars
in
local
funds
for
small,
low-interest
loans
and
grants
to
help
keep
employers
afloat.
As
of
today,
just
about
60
days
later
already.
Some
1.3
million
dollars
is
on
the
streets
of
Bloomington,
helping
scores
of
businesses
and
nonprofits.
A
That's
fast
and
great
work,
and
we
all
know
that
community-wide
team
are
things
in
March
I
also
convened
a
task
force
of
other
community
leaders
to
help
address,
pressing
safety
net
needs
for
shelter,
food
and
child
care.
This
group
helped
establish
one
temporary
new
roomier
shelter
for
those
experiencing
homelessness
and
a
second
new
shelter
at
a
vacant
motel
for
those
needing
to
isolate
after
symptoms
or
a
diagnosis
of
Kovan.
A
A
Like
a
farmers
market,
that's
learned
to
operate
online
and
in
two
different
locations
thus
far,
and
that's
what
it
takes
time
and
time
again,
our
community
has
come
together
and
shown
up
for
each
other
offered
a
hand,
nourished
the
better
angels
of
our
nature.
We
can
hope
and
imagine
that
through
these
Tenten
tough
weeks,
we've
seen
a
path
forward.
A
better
course
ahead
because
we've
learned
how
interdependent
we
are,
how
much
each
of
us
depends
on
so
many
others,
as
one
senator
put
it.
We
all
do
better
when
we
all
do
better.
A
I
won't
talk
now
about
that
big
picture.
Wide
angle,
of
course,
ahead.
I'll
come
back
to
that
in
a
few
weeks,
but
I
want
to
close
by
thinking
together
about
how
we
navigate
the
specific
continuing
challenges
of
the
pandemic.
Over
the
next
weeks
and
months,
governor
Holcomb
has
outlined
a
five
stage:
reopening
plan
hoping
to
eliminate
virtually
all
health
based
mandates
by
July
4th.
He
announced
stage
two
entering
on
May
4th
and
has
directed
stage
three
to
begin
on.
A
Friday
May,
22nd
I
personally,
am
very
concerned
that
this
schedule
is
too
aggressive
and
isn't
adequately
justified
by
health
data.
We
will
see
here
in
Bloomington
in
Monroe
County.
You
know,
we've
gone
more
cautiously,
as
our
local
health
indicators
told
us
that
we
weren't
ready
yet
I'd
like
to
publicly
thank
our
health
professionals
for
taking
the
road
they
have
attending
to
our
local
data
and
our
local
health
with
dedication
and
integrity.
A
A
We
will
continue
to
encourage
those
who
can
to
work
remotely
and
to
contact
city
services
by
phone
or
online,
if
possible,
but
visitors
who
need
to
will
be
able
to
conduct
business
in
person
starting
Tuesday,
May
26th
as
we're
open
city
hall
and
other
city
facilities
to
the
public
with
significantly
different
protocols.
I
do
have
reservations
about
relaxing
restrictions
to
fast
locally.
Our
local
health
authorities
have
made
data-driven
decisions
looking
at
declining
daily
cases,
declining
hospital
admission
rates
and
good
capacity
to
serve
patients,
as
well
as
increasing
local
testing
and
contract
tracing.
A
A
Last
month,
a
statewide
study
tested
nearly
5000,
randomly
selected
Hoosiers
and
just
under
3
percent
had
either
active
or
previous
presence
of
Kovan
19.
That
number
is
11
times
greater
than
the
percentage
of
individual
Hoosiers
who'd
been
identified
by
state
testing.
Thus
far,
that
study
also
showed
that
nearly
half
of
those
testing
positive
had
no
symptoms
likely,
never
knew
they
had
the
disease
or
were
infectious
that
tells
us
much
more
testing
and
tracing
will
be
critical
to
monitor
and
manage
the
pandemic,
and
it
tells
us
we
really
need
conscientiously
to
continue
things.
A
A
So,
yes,
in
our
community
in
Indiana,
you
are
now
permitted
to
dine
in
a
restaurant.
Get
a
massage
or
a
haircut
go
to
a
shoe
store
a
small
party,
but
maybe
grandparent
once
said
to
you
just
because
you
can
do
it
doesn't
mean
you
should
please
be
careful
of
course,
especially
if
you're
at
higher
risk,
but
all
of
us
what
we
do,
how
we
behave
will
determine
how
and
whether
this
dilute
deadly
virus
spreads
more
among
us
and
how
we
can
continue
to
move
incrementally
safely
toward
a
better
future.
A
Bloomington
employers
and
institutions
are
interrupt
waters.
We
know,
let's
each
support
them
responsibly,
as
additional
support
comes
from
governments
online
ordering
and
curbside
pickup
our
excellent
options.
Outdoor
dining
is
safer
than
indoors
delaying
potential
exposures,
even
just
for
a
few
days
or
a
week,
can
matter
and
thank
and
respect
those
workers
on
the
job
every
day.
A
One
clear
lesson
of
this
crisis
has
been
our
connectedness
for
better
and
for
worse.
You
might
say,
for
this
virus
exploits
our
physical
connections,
but,
as
we've
seen,
our
social
connections,
our
caring
and
stepping
up
and
volunteering
together,
are
also
a
fundamental
source
of
our
strength
and
will
be
needed
for
our
recovery.
A
Thank
you
all
for
how
well
you
have
handled
these
past
10
tough
weeks
lament
onehans
have
to
keep
caring
for
each
other
and
embracing
the
future.
We
will
get
through
this
together,
yes,
but
make
no
mistake.
We
have
hard
choices
and
big
challenges
ahead
of
us
to
help
bloomington
navigate
our
own
rough
waters.
We
all
will
need
to
rise
to
meet
that
challenge,
so
Bloomington
can
be
the
inclusive,
equitable
sustainable,
successful
community
that
we
want
it
to
be
keep
taking
care
of
Bloomington
and
keep
taking
care
of
each
other.
Thank
you.
So
much.