Displaying items by tag: COVID and Summer Camp
Nearly a year ago today, our nation was shutting down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, taking children out of schools and parents out of work, sending them to complete their daily tasks from their homes to prevent further spread of the virus. A year later, and not much has seemed to have changed. A lot of folks are still working from home, and kids are still doing virtual learning, though with people beginning to receive the vaccine, it seems that we may be able to return to our “normal” state sooner rather than later. COVID struck just a few months before summer camps all over the nation reopened, and for some, it put an end to the summer before it even began. While not all camps were able to open in the summer, there were a small number which successfully navigated the COVID issue ensuring campers were safe, but also got to enjoy what summer camp has to offer.
Swift Nature Camp was one of the few overnight summer camps that operated during 2020 through the COVID-19 Pandemic, though it was not without sacrifice. Much of what we knew about camp had to be changed in order to maximize the safety of both campers and staff. We asked campers and staff to quarantine for weeks before coming to camp to minimize the chances of them becoming infected by going out into public. The schedule was reworked so that cabin groups would not intermingle with other cabins, so that if only one cabin were to have a case of COVID, we would have been able to isolate them to ensure there was no further infection. Face masks were mandatory, though due to the length of camp, we were able to take them off, as no one was allowed to enter or leave camp, effectively giving us a “safety bubble” where it was nearly impossible for COVID to enter camp after campers arrived for a session. As no one could leave camp, days which staff members had time off were spent around camp, rather than getting to go out to eat or go to a state park. Each cabin also had UV lights put into them, which science has shown to be effective in killing the COVID-19 virus. Thankfully, at a nature summer camp there is plenty of sun at camp, which allowed us to naturally disinfect canoe paddles and life jackets by letting them soak up the UV radiation of the Sun. The wide-open spaces made social distancing rather easy, and we tried to keep camp as normal as we possibly could, and I believe that this was done quite well, as Swift Nature Camp experienced 0 cases of COVID all summer.
COVID surely changed the way that Swift Nature Camp operated in 2020, but we took it as a challenge we could not back down from, one where the reward was much greater than the risk, and it paid off hugely. By prioritizing safety, we were able to mitigate any damage that could have been done by the virus and were able to make it through the entire summer. While the social distancing guidelines were not well received by many campers, they understood that they all played a pivotal role in the entirety of the summer, as a single case of COVID likely could have shut down the whole camp for the entire summer. The campers wore their masks, they practiced social distancing, and the day that we announced that we would no longer have to wear face masks was often one of the best days of the session. It was so rewarding for all of us to know that we had each played our part to make sure that everyone benefitted, a lesson in teamwork that I think more of the world should learn from.
With the 2021 season ahead and a year of experience of “COVID Camp” behind us, Swift Nature Camp is ready for the new summer. We instituting new policies like asking counselors to get vaccinated as soon as they can based on the groups which are allowed to receive the vaccine. With testing becoming more widely available, we will be implementing much more testing, to further ensure the safety of our campers and our staff. Face masks and social distancing measures will still be implemented in order to minimize the spreading of the virus. We are hoping that our 2021 summer camp will be just as safe as our sleep- away summer camp in 2020. It seems as if COVID-19 is getting under control and that 2021 will be the last year we have to plan for COVID, so that the Swift Nature Camp community can return to normal and that campers can return back to their summer homes with out concern
Recently, I read the below article about keeping our children safe during a pandemic in the summer of 2021. I whole hardily agree in what was said and yet I found something missing. Last summer we ran summer camp without it. This year, science has brought testing, a game changer for overnight summer camps . Summer Camp will be more safe and manageable when overnight summer camps use preamp and during camp testing. Our “safe bubble” will more quickly be available getting us into the fun of Summer camp, COVID FREE. At SNC Policy will develop as the summer nears. But here is what we did in 2020, Camp COVID Policy
Summer Camps 2021: Health & Safety First
As school starts to wind down and vaccine rates increase, East End families are cautiously looking toward a summer of fun. Although we still don’t know what the summer will bring in terms of infection rates or public health policies, here are some tips to make your summer as safe as possible…
MASKS
As we’ve learned, COVID is a virus which attacks the respiratory tract and is spread by droplets (a small amount of liquid produced by exhaling). These tiny droplets can become aerosolized and fly through the air, where they can be inhaled by others. The best way to protect yourself and those around you is to be vigilant about wearing masks…even if someone has been vaccinated!
The best thing to do is to wear a cloth mask (either purchased or homemade, a good chance for some camp-inspired creativity) or a disposable mask (but save the N95 masks for your healthcare providers who have been properly fitted for them). Avoid masks with ventilation valves, as this can increase the spread of disease. The only way that a mask can protect anyone is to wear it correctly…this means masks should cover your mouth and nose at all times and fit snugly.
Try not to touch your mask while wearing it, and wash your hands if you do! When you remove your mask, remove it by the ear loops or tie—don’t touch the front of the mask (where the germs are) or your face. Wash or sanitize your hands after taking off your mask, and make sure to launder your mask regularly.
HAND WASHING—NOT GLOVES
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) recommends that gloves only be used for those caring for or cleaning up after those who are sick. It is not necessary (and may be more dangerous) for your kids to use gloves during summer fun, especially during camp activities, including eating and drinking. If your child is wearing gloves and touches their face, it may make things worse.
Instead of gloves, remind them to wash or sanitize their hands frequently (with a product that is at least 60% alcohol). Make sure that their camp supplies include a liberal supply of hand sanitizer. You can make it fun by picking products of fun scents and colors. Washing your hands is one of the best ways to not only prevent COVID, but a whole host of other illnesses.
SOCIAL DISTANCING
This is still the most important way to keep yourself and your kids safe! Make sure that your kids’ camps are taking all reasonable precautions to limit large gatherings and plan more outdoor fun. When not at camp, continue to take precautions. When opting for outdoor dining venues, make sure the venue has spread-out tables and the staff are wearing masks. Be mindful of wearing masks in stores, following arrows in store aisles and not crowding cash registers. If you are venturing out to beaches or parks, choose times that are less busy and keep your distance from others.
Just because COVID is on everyone’s mind, there are also some non-COVID things to consider for the summer…
ALLERGIES
According to the CDC, food allergies are on the rise. About 6-8% of children have at least one food allergy and these can be serious. Symptoms of food allergies can include hives, itching, rashes, coughing, vomiting, lip swelling and difficulty breathing. In short, food allergies can be life threatening for some children.
If your child has a food allergy, make sure the camp staff understands exactly what triggers their symptoms, what their symptoms are and how to manage an emergency. Equip your camper with the medications recommended by your doctor, including an epi-pen (an injectable rescue medication for anaphylactic shock) if necessary. Remind your child to ask questions when offered new foods or treats, and be prepared to send special snacks for your day camper if the camp can’t accommodate special requests. If one of your child’s co-campers has an allergy, do your best to respect the rules and don’t send food that could be dangerous.
LYME DISEASE
Long Island (and Wisconsin) is notorious for deer ticks that carry Borrelia burgdorferi, the most common bacteria that cause Lyme disease, a tick-borne illness that can cause rash, joint pain, headaches, fever and swollen lymph nodes, among other symptoms. If untreated, Lyme disease can also cause neurologic symptoms and cardiac damage. It’s important to minimize your child’s risk for tick bites and to identify early signs of possible Lyme disease, which can be successfully treated with antibiotics.
Whenever possible make sure your child wears a hat, long sleeves and long pants in heavily wooded areas. Encourage them to tuck their pants into their socks to further minimize exposed skin. Make sure your child is using insect repellent, with 20% DEET concentration, but avoid their hands, mouth and eyes. When hiking through brush and woods, encourage your children to stay on well-marked trails, which tend to have fewer heavily wooded areas.
Once your child comes home after a long day, teach him or her to check themselves for ticks (or make sure their counselor at sleepaway camp encourages this). In general, the shorter the time a tick is on your body, the less likely it is to cause disease. A deer tick is as small as the period on the end of a sentence and may be hard to see, but make sure everyone is looking.
Finding a deer tick is not an automatic reason to visit the infirmary or your pediatrician, but it is important to stay vigilant. Symptoms of Lyme disease can appear up to a month after a tick bite. Remind your children to alert camp staff or you if they have fevers, feel achy or sick, have “swollen glands,” or a new rash. The classic rash associated with Lyme disease is a bullseye, also known as erythema migrans. Any of these findings should send your child to the camp infirmary or their home pediatrician.
SUNBLOCK
Camp is at its best and most fun when the sun is shining, but it’s crucial to protect your children from the risks it can pose. Remember, having five prior sunburns significantly increases your risk for melanoma (the deadliest form of skin cancer) later in life.
The sun is at its peak intensity from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., which is usually prime time at camp. Encourage your children to wear wide-brimmed hats in the sun, as well as sunglasses with ultraviolet (UV) protection. It’s a chance for them to make a fashion statement, as well as a positive health choice!
Sunscreen only works when it’s being used in the right amounts and at the right times. Start with an SPF of at least 15 and cover all areas of the body that aren’t covered by clothing. It’s important to reapply sunscreen frequently—every two hours, especially if your child is swimming or sweating a lot in the heat. Even waterproof sunscreen must be reapplied. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, a young adult needs about one ounce of sunscreen per application.
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Although a few things are still unclear about this summer, by following these commonsense tips, we can make summer 2021 on the East End safe and fun for everyone!
Dr. Rina Meyer is a board-certified pediatric hematologist-oncologist in practice at Stony Brook Children’s. She is an assistant professor of clinical pediatrics at Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University. Her views are her own and do not necessarily represent the views of Stony Brook University or Stony Brook Children’s Hospital.
COVID has been a crazy time for all of us. Yet, summer camps are in full swing for 2021 and the demand is amaingly high. Despite SNC safely running last year, we have seen a huge jump in early registrations. Some camps have raised rates or start wait lists. Camps do have a limited capacity and it is not easy to add more beds especially when we are all distancing our selves. Here is a recent article about overnight summer camps in the North-East.
Competition for summer camp spots is heating up, despite many uncertainties
By Andy Rosen Globe Staff,Updated February 9, 2021, 8:58 a.m.
After nearly a year of living in close quarters, families are snapping up scarce spots at Massachusetts summer camps, anxious for their children to be able to spend time in the fresh air with peers ― away from home.
Operators of day and overnight programs say they are doing all they can to restore camp activities that last year were canceled or severely curtailed in an effort to prevent spread of the COVID-19 virus. But the planning comes with a huge asterisk. State public health authorities have not yet released rules for how programs can be run safely — nor have they said whether overnight camps can open at all.
Many camp operators say they have no choice but to move forward as though the season will take place, hoping to avoid another year of lost revenue.
“The risk here is great,” said Matthew Scholl, president of the Massachusetts Camping Association. Scholl, who also runs the Becket-Chimney Corners YMCA camps in Western Massachusetts, said camps must start preparing now for the upcoming season. He said he has had productive conversations with state public health officials, but camps are still awaiting authoritative information on how many children they’ll be able to accommodate, what the rules will be, and what kinds of programs are acceptable.
Camps in New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont are feeling more confident about overnight programs, because those states allowed such programs last year, according to Michele Rowcliffe, executive director of the New England branch of the American Camp Association, an industry accrediting organization. Last year, it took state and federal officials so long to develop safety guidelines that many camp operators decided there wasn’t time to implement them, and remained closed. Massachusetts and Connecticut last year enforced outright bans on overnight camps.
Camp operators say it’s too soon to guess how the total capacity for campers in Massachusetts will compare with previous years. Some camps and summer programs are waiting for the state to act before opening up registration. Those that are going ahead with sign-ups are keeping their programs small for now, hoping that they can offer additional spaces once they find out about mandated restrictions. That’s made summer camp slots almost as precious as a pre-pandemic ticket to a Taylor Swift concert.
“We had nothing last summer, and we cannot repeat that again this summer,” said Dr. Nicole Christian-Brathwaite, a psychiatrist who lives in Hyde Park and is trying to find a camp for her boys, ages 4 and 6. The best guaranteed options she can find cost the family a total upward of $8,000 for the season. She is getting used to the idea that she may have to pay more than anticipated, but recognizes that some other families don’t have that option.
“I just worry about the ongoing disparities that kids of color and kids from low-income environments are going to experience,” Christian-Brathwaite said. “If it’s difficult for us ― how much harder is it going to be for parents who haven’t been employed?”
Camp operators say they are optimistic that the outlook will improve as the season draws nearer.
“Hang tight, because we’re hopeful that there’s going to be some adjustments,” said Eric Arnold, executive director of Hale, which runs day sessions and overnight camping at its 1,137-acre property in Westwood.
Beyond the questions surrounding state regulations, Arnold said, the organization is still waiting to hear from groups it partners with on free or reduced-price programs — such as school systems and community centers — that have not yet decided whether they will offer such assistance this year. He said the organization is holding back many slots in its camp programs for people who don’t have the ability to pay.
At the YMCA of Greater Boston, demand for summer camp programs is on the rise. James Morton, chief executive of the organization, said registration for overnight camp is 31 percent higher than it was last year at this time — when the threat of COVID-19 was still not fully known. Day camps also are reporting higher interest than last year.
The Boston YMCA runs overnight camps in New Hampshire, but is eagerly awaiting details on what it must do to operate its day camps closer to home. The nonprofit enrolled about 1,500 children in 2020 and wants to double that number this summer. It also plans to add additional summer learning opportunities for students who may have fallen behind at school.
“This summer is probably the most important summer that we’ve ever experienced in our 170-year history,” said Morton, who believes camp can help children overcome the isolation they may have felt at home. “Here’s an opportunity for us to mitigate some of that by providing young people with every opportunity to interact with other young people so that we can help them recover some of the social-emotional skills they might have lost.”
Boston Centers for Youth & Families, run by the city, typically begins registration in March for its summer day programs, but it is still waiting to see how many of its programs it will be able to restore for this summer. Last year, it served about 3,000 kids through online and in-person programs, the department said. In a normal summer, about 4,600 young people participate in in-person day offerings.
Last year, many camps said they struggled to attract families because of concerns about COVID-19.
Crossroads, a nonprofit that offers overnight and day camps in Duxbury and Brewster, last year scrapped those programs in favor of a partnership with BCYF to offer day programs at sites in the city. Only about 400 people signed up for 1,000 spaces.
This year, parents seem to be more comfortable with the pandemic safety protocols that camps have put in place, said Simon Hess, president of Crossroads. It surveyed families of high school-age participants about whether they were interested in attending camp this summer. Only two of 63 said they wouldn’t come under any circumstances.
But when the Duxbury and Brewster camps open as expected this year, he said, they will only be able to serve about 320 people — down from 1,000 in a normal year — because of the need for social distancing and other protocols.
Delicia Stephens, a South Boston educator whose two children have been involved with Crossroads for years, said her 11-year-old daughter, Sanyrah Andrews, is eager to participate this summer after taking part in the BCYF collaboration last year. But Stephens said she’s not planning to shop around for a different camp if her daughter does not get a spot at Crossroads.
“If that happens, then she won’t go anywhere,” Stephens said. “I’m only willing to send her to the Crossroads program. Because I trust them. I know them.”
