General Considerations: Covid-19

  • There is no way to bring the risk of coronavirus down to 0%. Everyone understands that in a global pandemic, there is risk of coronavirus showing up at camp.
  • Slowing the spread is possible with simple and practical precautions
  • Communicable disease has always been a concern at Camp Shohola and we will continue to implement the policies and procedures used in past years and we will augment them this year
  • Children are at very low risk of contracting this particular virus and at very low risk of serious illness if they do contract it
  • Even at home it is impossible to bring a household’s risk down to zero. Essential contact with the outside world must continue for any household to function

***These procedures and protocols come from recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control, the American Camp Association, and local and state health organizations.

WHAT SHOULD I DO BEFORE COMING TO CAMP?

  • At least a ONE WEEK quarantine before your child comes to camp
  • During this time please monitor your son’s symptoms
  • Please under no circumstances send your son to camp with symptoms
  • Every camper should come with AT LEAST 3 cloth washable masks
  • Please send your child with a thermometer to take daily temperatures
  • Record and monitor your child’s temperature every day the week leading up to camp
  • Please teach your child how to properly sneeze or cough and how to properly wash his hands
  • A negative coronavirus test is required within the 7-day period leading up to camp

ARRIVAL DAY

  • If your child rides the bus, he must wear a mask on the bus
  • On arrival you will drive up to a welcome desk at the lower office where staff members will direct you to drive down the camp road and make the first right behind the dining hall. Here you will drive through three stations:
    • At the first tent, Duncan, Holly, and other staff will greet the family and unload the campers belongings to bring back to the cabin. The cabin counselors will be summoned to help.
    • Next you will drive up to a second tent for an intake screening from the camp nurses.
    • The third station will be a coronavirus swab.
  • We are going to dramatically limit the number of people coming on camp property so we will only offer tours to families that have never seen camp before. Tours will be exclusively outdoors. Please stop and use the bathroom on the road just before you get to camp to avoid the need to go inside any buildings while you are at camp. Tours will be brief and we will ask parents to vacate the property quickly simply to reduce contact between the camp staff and the general public.
  • Please arrive on the early side and no later than 2:00 pm.
  • There will be a public bathroom for use but we ask that people please try to make other arrangements.

STAFF ARRIVAL

  • The staff will arrive 2 weeks before the campers come
  • Staff will be tested on arrival and then tested again 4-5 days before the campers arrive

FIRST 48-36 HOURS

  • Every camper must wear a mask indoors and maintain social distancing when possible.
  • The great majority of activities will be outside
  • Kids will stay much more within their cabin groups or pods as they are being called
  • We will use an abundance of vigilance until test results are received
  • Once we have reason to believe we know the health condition of our population we will live according to a hybrid model of social distancing and what we are referring to as the household model

CAMP LIFE

  • We will ask every Head of Department to develop specific protocols for cleaning each activity area during camp
  • Each cabin will have daily cleaning of commonly touched surfaces and some common area of camp as well
  • Every cabin will keep screen windows open for ventilation

  • DINING HALL

    • The Dining Hall has glass sliding doors that will stay open throughout the day
    • The Dining Hall also has huge fans that will provide fresh air circulation
    • We plan to reduce the number of people touching serving utensils
    • We eat outside when possible, especially during the first few days before test results come
  • The CDC and ACA guidelines will be applied specifically to our environment and procedures by people who know our environment and procedures best.
  • We will continuously monitor symptoms and talk with the campers while still trying to minimize fear
  • Field trips off camp will be dramatically reduced, however we will still be able to do trips that do not require interaction with the public and are outdoors (i.e. hiking, waterskiing)
  • In an effort to limit exposure through food and mail deliveries, we ask that parents really cut down on the number of letters and packages they send to camp. Sending essential items is of course allowed
  • Bag chairs are encouraged and welcomed so that people have a place to sit outside and distance from each other a bit

IN THE EVENT SOMEONE BECOMES SICK

  • With the advice of our nursing staff and communication with you we will respond accordingly
  • As soon as a person shows symptoms they will be isolated right away
  • We will then decide with your input whether or not to send the child to urgent care
  • From there the doctors will decide if the child needs to be tested
  • We will have access, with a doctor’s prescription, to a drive by testing location
  • We will have places to effectively quarantine and isolate people that test positive
  • The testing company we will be using is Rapid Reliable Testing. They are routinely seeing a 2-day turnaround from the time samples are received by the lab.