Please note that this was our 2021 plan. Changes for 2022 will likely not come until March as we follow the science and conditions.
2021 Mondamin – Green Cove Covid Plan
With the help of our medical panel of camp doctors and nurses, who know our program and campus well, we have developed a plan that we believe will protect our campers & staff without sacrificing the core elements of what make Mondamin and Green Cove– well, Mondamin and Green Cove!
This plan maintains the key elements of our program – such as campers choosing their activities, mixing with campers of different ages, moving along skill progressions, and tripping with same-skill level campers etc.
Our medical panel will continue to help us follow the latest science, CDC guidance, and transmission rates and adjust plans accordingly. While we expect the plan, especially in the earlier sessions, will look largely like what we have outlined here it must by definition remain a work in progress. Significant improvements – or setbacks – in the overall Covid situation could result in corresponding relaxation or tightening.
Combining Cohorts and the “2 out of 3” Rule: We will operate as “family groups” (cohorts is the CDC term) during certain times of the day which will always be mask-free. For the first week of camp or until we receive the (hopefully!) clean results of our in-camp PCR test we will operate with the “2 of 3” Rule. Those 3 mitigating measures being “outside”, “masked”, and / or “socially distanced”. Once we receive negative results for the entire camper community, we will move to a Location Based Masking Guideline. In this new guideline we will identify certain locations in which everyone will need to be masked. These locations include Campfire, Assembly, and all indoor locations such as Green Cove Crafts and the Mondamin Boat Shop.
What is a family group (cohort)?: Every cabin has 5 or 6 campers and a counselor. Their adjoining cabin has the same and together each cabin pair will be considered a family group (i.e., Middler 1 & 2 will form a single family). These will be the groups in which campers and their cabin counselors will be always be free from face covering & distancing rules. Morning cleanup, mealtimes, rest hour, and preparing for bed as well as occasional things such as “cabin overnights” for camping and sometimes when playing games after dinner will all be times to take advantage of this arrangement.
Unlike normal summers, campers will not be allowed to enter other cabins. Hanging out with friends from other cabins will take place in our endless open spaces, as it often does anyway.
Details, details, details…
Pre-camp preparation:
A healthy camp starts at home!
The preparation for camp must include new things this year as we aim to keep the safety of our camp families as our top priority. Prior to your campers arrival we will be asking you to partner with us in keeping camp Covid free! Together our community can come together through daily health logs and following CDC guidance to reduce exposure. This will include limiting unnecessary travel and we will ask that you and your child refrain from any gatherings that could increase covid exposure (ie. do not attend other activities such as parties, get-togethers with friends or family, end of year programs, indoor sports, or other outings). It is essential that campers coming from school, educational opportunities, or outdoor sports practices, adhere to public health guidance around mask wearing and physical distancing when taking part in activities outside of the home. We will ask you to monitor symptoms and exposure for 8 days prior to arriving at camp and fill out the form that will be available.
Testing Routine:
Campers will need to arrive at camp with a negative PCR test taken within 5 days before camp. Details on this, as with the pre-camp Health Log, should have already been sent to you. Campers that are fully vaccinated (meaning 2 weeks after their 2nd Pfizer dose) will be exempt from this.
During the 2, 3 and 5-week sessions, we will be doing a PCR test on everyone 4-5 days into the session.
Traveling to camp: If you are traveling by car, we ask you to not make any unnecessary stops and to wear masks/distance if you need to get out of your car for gas/food/bathroom stops.
If you are traveling by plane, flyers must follow CDC mask and distancing protocols in the airports and while on the plane.
International Campers: Per CDC guidelines, international campers (or any American camper arriving from outside the US) must arrive in the US a full 7 days before Opening Day for quarantine and testing unless they are already fully vaccinated.
Opening Day: We are planning to have staggered drop off times, drive through “stations’’ for all of the necessary Opening Day activities, and staff ready to deliver your camper’s luggage to their cabin for you. Parents will need to plan to stay in their cars the entire time except for a brief hug goodbye. Please keep children in the car. No restrooms will be available. Please wear a mask for this check in process.
Meals: Campers will wash their hands before every meal. They will sit with their family group and will not have “sit away”. The lines will be separate during meals, either separated in the dining hall or outside in festival style tents. Masks will be worn unless actively eating.
Morning Assembly: We plan on holding these outside this summer with separation between lines. Campers will be appropriately distance or wear face coverings. Appropriate distance will be determined by the sheer volume of air produced by singing and Green Cove may need to spread out by a great distance!
Trip Protocols: When going out of camp, we plan to avoid trips to areas that are often the most crowded, wear face coverings in vehicles to and from, not interact with other groups in the woods, and increase staff-controlled food handling. Additionally, we will use open air tarps, unless a camper has a solo tent or happens to be on a trip with a “family group” member and wants to share a tent.
Hygiene Practices: We will step up frequent hand washing and access to hand sanitizer as well as intensifying the cleaning and disinfection practices around camp, including cabin bathrooms, high touch areas, and shared equipment.
Daily Health Checks: Campers will be monitored with daily symptom checks.
Face Coverings: We will ask you to send 10 multi-layered washable face coverings with your campers full name on them. Please make sure the face coverings are well fitting and stay in place during physical activity. For “Buffs” to be acceptable they must be folded with multiple layers. We highly recommend lanyards to help keep track of these.
Possible or Positive Cases: If a camper has symptoms, they will be evaluated by our medical team, isolated if deemed necessary, and tested with a rapid test and PCR test that we will have at the ready. If a camper is positive, they will be isolated in the care of our infirmary staff until they can be picked up by a parent or guardian.
Parents must be prepared to pick up any Covid-positive camper within 24-48 hours.
We are working with our medical team to create a threshold to determine when (depending on the length of the session) a camper might be able to return to the camp population.
“Close Contacts”: Those campers in a Covid-positive camper’s “family group” will be considered their close contacts. They will do activities, meals, etc. as a “quarantine” group apart from the camp population until our medical staff has cleared them based on best practice at that time. These Close Contacts will be PCR tested to determine if Covid has been transmitted. Campers that are fully vaccinated (meaning 2 weeks after their 2nd Pfizer dose) will be exempt from this quarantine.
Visiting Days: We will not be able to have any visiting this summer.
“Co-eds”: We hope to be able to have co-eds only if it is safe to do so. We do not expect to have co-eds in June Camp. We hope to have co-eds after 2-3 weeks of Main Camp.
Staff: The CDC has placed us in the same category as K-12 teachers and many of our year-round and summer staff have already had their first shot! As a result, we expect our staff to be an additional layer of protection for our campers. Staff who are not fully vaccinated by the time camp starts will not be allowed to leave camp during their time off until they have completed a vaccine round here.
Fully vaccinated staff will be permitted to leave camp during their time off under much stricter circumstances than in a normal year. Our medical panel is helping us determine those parameters as the science on transmissibility evolves as well. Update: 99% of our staff is fully vaccinated! This makes us confident with these changes.
As always, please feel free to email or call us with any question or concerns.