check for updates
Last updated: 11/23/2023. This is a living document and will be updated regularly. Please check back and see if our plans have evolved or changed before your camp or workshop.
covid protocols 2024
Our in-person programs in 2024 will be mask and distance optional for most people in most situations. We will continue to actively support people who choose to mask and distance. We got very good at “covid careful” over the past few years and adapted our spaces to accommodate that. Thus, it will be truly possible for someone who wishes to mask and distance to do that with ease during all of our seated activities.
We will run a survey for symptoms and exposures the weekend before each camp, and people who have tested positive or who have had known exposures will have testing, masking, distancing, and stay at home guidelines they need to follow.
CONSENT, PERSONAL SPACE & DIRECT PHYSICAL CONTACT
- We teach consent and expect consent when entering someone’s personal space or exchanging physical contact.
- We are comfortable with people in the camp community exchanging elbow bumps, fist bumps, and hugs WITH CONSENT, understanding that for some people consent might mean “yes, if we both have masks on.”
- We are still steering away from hand shakes (for hand hygiene reasons) and from piggy back rides, sitting in laps, wrestling, and other prolonged physical contact.
how it works on the ground at camp ~ all the practical stuff!
health check in everyday before leaving home
Check in with yourself and/or your camper each day before leaving for camp. Intentionally ask, “How Do You Feel?” If campers or staff are symptomatic, if there is sneezing, coughing, runny nose, sore throat, fever, nausea, etc., we would like you to stay home, call us, and wait for symptoms to resolve. In addition, you will need to get a COVID test before coming back to camp.
COVID transmission in indoor and outdoor settings
Camp at Clapping Hands Farm takes place almost 100% outdoors. Outdoor settings are more protective than indoor spaces as a general rule. However, the more crowded an outdoor space is, especially if there is singing or yelling, the more it begins to be similar to an indoor space in terms of our exposure to shared air.
At camp there is the occasional rainy day when we are crowded into our camp shelter, and we have one indoor space that is used very occasionally for an activity. Our nurse suggests that anyone with heightened risks for COVID infection may want to mask in close quarters.
if you are sick, or have tested positive for COVID, or have had a known contact with someone who tested positive for COVID—
If you or your camper are recovering from COVID, have had known contacts with people who have tested positive, or are feeling sick in ANY WAY, we want you to call Louise the camp director: 919-542-5599. The general guidance provided by our camp nurse is below, but we expect a CALL if any of the following applies to you.
If you or your camper is symptomatic in ANY WAY— call the director. We will ask you to test for COVID, and if you test negative, depending on the severity of the symptoms, we will assess together whether you or your camper can come to camp.- If you have tested positive for COVID in the 10 days prior to camp— call the director. Current CDC guidelines say that people with COVID-19 should isolate at home for 6 days and if symptoms are improving you can attend camp programs as long as you mask for 5 additional days to minimize the risk of infecting others.
- If you had a known contact with someone who tested positive for COVID in the 10 days prior to camp— call the director. In many cases it will be OK for you to come to camp if you will wear a mask for 10 days after the exposure. If symptoms start we will send you home.
- If you are living with someone who has tested positive— call the director. We will consult the nurse to see what we should do in terms of testing and masking and that will depend on the specifics of your individual situation.
- If you test positive during the camp week— call the director.
- If anyone tests positive during the camp week, we will notify everyone attending that camp by email.
covid screening
We send a COVID screening check-in BY TEXT a day or two before each camp with the questions below. Please respond immediately to the text and let us know if any of the answers change during the camp week.
- Are you experiencing any of the following symptoms: cough, difficulty breathing, fever, chills, muscle aches, sore throat, new loss of taste or smell, nausea, diarrhea or fatigue?
- Have you been in close contact with someone known or presumed to have COVID in the last 10 days (within 6 feet for more than 15 minutes over 24 hrs or direct exposure?
- Have you had a positive COVID test in the last 10 days, or are you awaiting test results?
During the camp week it is YOUR responsibility to ask yourself these questions daily and to call us if there is a YES to any of these questions.
hand hygiene
We will have hand washing stations and hand sanitizer available, and people will be encouraged to clean their hands often. COVID is airborne, but hand hygiene is still a great idea!
car pooling
Carpooling is set up by parents, not camp, but we will provide contact information and locations so parents who can contact one another.
We suggest that families openly discuss what they want in terms of COVID precautions in the car before setting up a carpool. Please respect each family’s decisions as to what is acceptable to them for managing COVID risk.
To be specific, you may want to talk about these questions:
- Has anyone in the carpool been sick in the last week or 2?
- Has anyone tested for COVID in the past week? Do they have the results?
- Do carpool participants want to do a COVID test before carpooling together?
- Will people mask in the car?
- Will windows be open or closed?
- Other questions you may have! We’re not suggesting our questions are comprehensive; again, carpooling is up to families and not the responsibility of camp.
patience and grace while we continue to navigate COVID
Thank you for reading our COVID protocol document. Camp in the time of a global pandemic has been challenging! We have worked hard to consider camp families who might be more medically vulnerable, while at the same time responding to the needs of our entire community. Your patience and grace is deeply appreciated!
