Safe and Successful Plan for Summer 2021
As many of you know, our professional staff team has been deeply entrenched in scenario and contingency planning for summer 2021. We are leading and involved in dedicated contingency planning with the Foundation for Jewish Camping, the Ontario Council of Jewish Camps, the Ontario Camps Association, Guideline recommendations, field guide recommendations and related planning groups. We have had ongoing consults with doctors, nurses, third party medical field companies, Camp Directors that ran camps in the summer of 2020, provincial camp associations, State medical advisors in the U.S., and local and international suppliers. While there are still many unknowns, and the situation regarding Covid-19 and its impact on overnight camping remains fluid, we are confident that we are as informed as we could be at this stage in the planning process. We are confident that being positioned in this way will guide us to a safe and successful summer of 2021.
Camp as a ‘Controlled Environment’
Camp cannot be a ‘bubble’ but it is an environment that can be carefully and intentionally controlled to mitigate risk of disease transmission. We can’t close ourselves off completely to the outside world (a true ‘bubble’) but we can get pretty close. The necessary areas of entry into the environment can be carefully monitored and controlled making the likelihood of disease transmission very low. For example, protocols can be put in place to ensure deliveries are received in a Covid safe controlled fashion; Essential visitors will only be allowed into the camp under controlled conditions, careful limitations can be put on when someone can leave camp and whether or not the circumstances warrant allowing for a return to camp, etc.
Leading the Field in Preparation, Supplies and Facilities
As part of our planning process, we have secured the services, equipment and supplies needed to operate in a fun, safe, and dynamic fashion. While we don’t yet know which services will be required, we are prepared for various projected likely scenarios. Some of the services may include:
· COVID Screening and PCR Molecular Testing –
o Pre-Camp – Private Clinic & Concierge (In Home) testing;
o Departure Day – Screening & Testing; and
o At Camp – Screening & Testing
· On Site Nursing including daily COVID Screening and intermittent and as required COVID Testing and Medical Clinic Management
· Personal Protective Equipment Supply
More details on the above will follow once we determine the needs in the spring We have also done and continue to do ongoing work towards opening safely as an industry leader in 2021 which includes securing large and small event tents to increase covered outdoor areas for programming, modifying facilities to improve the directional flow of people, renovating the health centre, adding a satellite medical dispensary, sealing dining room tables so no porous surfaces remain, and so much more. Our Board of Directors with support of incredible community volunteers of diverse and relevant backgrounds and experience have also struck a task force to ensure collective expert and dedicated minds are involved in the planning, direction, and preparedness of the camp for summer 2021.
As many of you know, our professional staff team has been deeply entrenched in scenario and contingency planning for summer 2021. We are leading and involved in dedicated contingency planning with the Foundation for Jewish Camping, the Ontario Council of Jewish Camps, the Ontario Camps Association, Guideline recommendations, field guide recommendations and related planning groups. We have had ongoing consults with doctors, nurses, third party medical field companies, Camp Directors that ran camps in the summer of 2020, provincial camp associations, State medical advisors in the U.S., and local and international suppliers. While there are still many unknowns, and the situation regarding Covid-19 and its impact on overnight camping remains fluid, we are confident that we are as informed as we could be at this stage in the planning process. We are confident that being positioned in this way will guide us to a safe and successful summer of 2021.
Camp as a ‘Controlled Environment’
Camp cannot be a ‘bubble’ but it is an environment that can be carefully and intentionally controlled to mitigate risk of disease transmission. We can’t close ourselves off completely to the outside world (a true ‘bubble’) but we can get pretty close. The necessary areas of entry into the environment can be carefully monitored and controlled making the likelihood of disease transmission very low. For example, protocols can be put in place to ensure deliveries are received in a Covid safe controlled fashion; Essential visitors will only be allowed into the camp under controlled conditions, careful limitations can be put on when someone can leave camp and whether or not the circumstances warrant allowing for a return to camp, etc.
Leading the Field in Preparation, Supplies and Facilities
As part of our planning process, we have secured the services, equipment and supplies needed to operate in a fun, safe, and dynamic fashion. While we don’t yet know which services will be required, we are prepared for various projected likely scenarios. Some of the services may include:
· COVID Screening and PCR Molecular Testing –
o Pre-Camp – Private Clinic & Concierge (In Home) testing;
o Departure Day – Screening & Testing; and
o At Camp – Screening & Testing
· On Site Nursing including daily COVID Screening and intermittent and as required COVID Testing and Medical Clinic Management
· Personal Protective Equipment Supply
More details on the above will follow once we determine the needs in the spring We have also done and continue to do ongoing work towards opening safely as an industry leader in 2021 which includes securing large and small event tents to increase covered outdoor areas for programming, modifying facilities to improve the directional flow of people, renovating the health centre, adding a satellite medical dispensary, sealing dining room tables so no porous surfaces remain, and so much more. Our Board of Directors with support of incredible community volunteers of diverse and relevant backgrounds and experience have also struck a task force to ensure collective expert and dedicated minds are involved in the planning, direction, and preparedness of the camp for summer 2021.
