ALBANY - Summer day camps are able to open Monday, and they will need to take a series of safety measures to help children and staff stay safe from coronavirus.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced June 2 that summer day camps could open June 29, but he later decided against allowing sleep-away camps, saying they might prove too dangerous amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Summer camps will be required to take a variety of steps when they open: Staff will have to wear masks whenever they are dealing with children and group sizes need to be kept to less than 15 campers.
And while camps can resume Monday, some will not open at all, and many are waiting until "in mid-July in order to have time to get ready with new regulations in place," according to the American Camp Association of New York and New Jersey.
While camps will be different this summer, the association said, "The foundations of camp as a place to connect with friends, take a break from technology, learn new activities, be outdoors and gain important life skills will certainly remain."
Since New York children haven't had in-person school since mid-March, the association said camps "will feel more important than ever before after children have been in isolation and out of school for so long."
The state Office of Children and Family Services released guidance in recent days for camps and child care to follow this summer.
Here's what will be required:
More: Cuomo on schools: COVID rates in U.S. could keep kids 'home for a long time'
Physical distancing
Camps will need to maintain similar guidelines as any business: When employees are less than 6 feet from each other, they must wear face coverings.
And anytime they are with children, workers also need to have masks on. Campers will not be required to wear masks.
But the state guidance does say that older campers, those over age 2, "are encouraged but not required to wear face coverings as feasible."
The state also said camps must limit group sizes to no more than 15 campers and ensure the groups are "as static as possible by having the same group of children/campers stay with the same staff whenever and wherever possible."
Each group should also try to have "no or minimal contact with one another or utilize common spaces at the same time, to the greatest extent possible."
Other steps should include:
- Adequate social distancing in small areas, such as restrooms and breakrooms, and signage to restrict occupancy when social distancing cannot be maintained.
- Try to reconfigure space to limit overall density of rooms to 15 or fewer children
- Ban non-essential visitors on site, to the extent possible.
- Establish designated areas for pick-ups and deliveries.
More: Summer camps can open in New York. Here's when
More: No sleep-away camps this summer, New York says. Here's why
Types of activities allowed at summer camp
The state laid out steps for camps to follow depending on the activity.
Pool and aquatic activities:
- Ensure face coverings are not worn while in the water.
- Keep groups of children separated.
- Encourage water activities where staff can safely supervise older children in the water without being in the water by themselves.
- Ensure appropriate social distancing is kept, to the extent possible.
- Enhance cleaning and disinfection protocols.
For sports and athletic activities:
- Focus on activities with little or no physical contact, such as hiking and running.
- Encourage sports that involve less physical closeness and ones with no shared equipment.
What about meals?
The state is urging that camps that serve meals do so as individual portions to children rather than cafeteria style.
The same groups that are together all day should also eat together, and mealtimes should be staggered to reduce occupancy.
Tables should be at least six feet apart.
More: New Jersey, Connecticut plan to reopen schools in fall, while New Yorkers wait for Cuomo
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What about trips?
The state guidance is discouraging them.
But if transportation is needed, the state said, it should be done by trying to keep the same groups together.
And children should be separated to the best extent possible.
And everyone on the bus or van over age 2 "and able to medically tolerate a face covering must wear face coverings."
New hygiene steps required at camps
Camps will have to keep logs on when cleaning and disinfecting took place that adhere to state and federal guidelines.
They will also need to have hand hygiene stations that have either soap and water or hand sanitizer.
Hand cleaning must happen for staff and children at least on arrival each day, between activities, before eating, after trips to the bathroom and at the end of the day, the state guidance said.
The camps also need to "provide appropriate cleaning/disinfection supplies for shared and frequently touched surfaces (e.g. door handles, multi-seat strollers, toys, art supplies, areas where children eat)."
Screening for coronavirus at camp
Camps will have to have mandatory health screening every day, whether it is a questionnaire that needs to be taken or temperature checks at the camp.
Staff must stay home if they are sick, and the same goes for campers.
The screening has to be specific:
- It has to ask if there have been any COVID-19 symptoms in past 14 days.
- If a person had a positive COVID-19 test in the past 14 days.
- If they have been in close or proximate contact with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 case in the past 14 days.
A parent or guardian who is isolated because they tested positive for COVID-19 cannot enter the camp for any reason, including picking up their child.
If anyone tests positive from the camp, the facility needs to immediately notify the state and local health departments.
More: New York will 'randomly' check flight passengers to ensure they quarantine for COVID-19
More: Coronavirus and your summer: The definitive list of what's open and what's not in New York
Joseph Spector is the New York state editor for the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at JSPECTOR@Gannett.com or followed on Twitter: @GannettAlbany
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