US Summer Camps Hit with COVID-19. Are Schools Next?

 

The U.S. has seen COVID-19 outbreaks linked to summer camps in recent weeks in states such as Texas, Illinois, Florida, Missouri and Kansas. Some fear the same thing could happen during the upcoming school year.

In some cases, the outbreaks have spread from the camp to the larger community.

The high-infection areas have appeared as the number of new cases of the coronavirus in the U.S. has been rising. The cases have jumped more than 60 percent over the past two weeks from an average of about 12,000 a day to around 19,500. That information comes from Johns Hopkins University.

The rise in many places has been blamed on too many unvaccinated people and a new version of the virus called the delta³ variant⁴.

Gwen Ford⁵ is a 43-year-old science teacher from Adrian, Missouri. She was hopeful when she saw the dropping case numbers in the U.S. during the spring. So she signed up her 12-year-old daughter for the West Central Christian⁶ Service Camp.

But one day, Ford got an email about an outbreak and then learned that her daughter's camp friend was infected. Ford said it made her extremely worried. But, she explained, a test showed her daughter did not have the virus. Ford said she plans to get her daughter vaccinated². But she did not have enough time between the start of the camp and the government's May approval of the Pfizer vaccine⁷ for 12- to 15-year-olds.

A note written on the camp's Facebook page said that the camp nurse and several other workers and volunteers were infected. Employees at the camp did not return a call from the Associated Press for comment.

JoAnn Martin is an official from the public health agency in Pettis County, an area in central Missouri. She is disappointed about how hard it has been to get people to take the virus seriously and get vaccinated.

"You have people who still say (the coronavirus) is not real. You have people who say it is a cold. You have people who say, ‘What is the big deal?' You have people who say it is all a government plot."

Dr. William Schaffner is an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. He said he is not surprised by the outbreaks at camps. He believes some camps did not consider the effects of opening after being closed last year.

The best situation would be for camps to require vaccinations⁹ for adults and for campers who are old enough. Camps can also take measures like serving meals in shifts, putting fewer campers in cabins, and making unvaccinated campers wear face coverings indoors.

In the Houston, Texas area, health officials said more than 130 children and adults tested positive for the virus in connection with a church camp. The religious leader of Clear Creek¹⁰ Community Church in League City said the outbreak happened in two parts. First, it was at the camp and then when people returned home in late June.

In Illinois, health officials said 85 teens and adults at a Christian youth camp in mid-June tested positive. One unvaccinated young adult went to the hospital. Some people from the camp attended a nearby conference, leading to 11 more cases.

The Illinois Department of Public Health said all the campers were able to get the vaccine. But only "a handful" of campers and workers had received it. The camp did not ask if people had been vaccinated and did not require face coverings indoors, the department said.

In Florida, the health department in Leon County, which includes the city of Tallahassee, reported an increase in cases. On Twitter this month, the department said the increase was partly linked to summer camp outbreaks.

And in Kansas, about 50 people were infected in an outbreak linked to a church summer camp held last month close to Wichita.

In other places, the situation is better. Nearly 225 overnight camps and thousands of day camps that are run by the Young Men's Christian Association, known as the YMCA, are mostly open this summer. But they are not accepting as many people, said Paul McEntire. He is chief operating officer for the YMCA, a national nonprofit organization.

McEntire said he knows of a few cases of YMCA camps where people tested positive. But there is not a big spread, he said. He said many camps are taking measures such as serving meals in shifts or outside. They also are trying to keep young people in separate groups. Most are requiring face coverings indoors, but he noted¹¹ that can be difficult.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, has just updated its guidance. It suggests that all students, teachers, workers and visitors at K-12 schools wear face coverings indoors. The CDC says it does not matter whether the person is vaccinated or not.

Summer camp outbreaks may predict what will happen when children return to classrooms in the fall, said Dr. Michelle Prickett. She is a heart specialist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. The effects will depend on vaccination⁸ rates and which virus variants¹² are widespread, she said.

Vanderbilt's Schaffner said schools may not face similar outbreaks because they usually have more restrictions¹³ than camps. But he said the best way to reduce the risk is to get most people vaccinated. Schaffner said people in some parts of the country still do not understand this.

For example, in Tennessee, the top vaccination official lost her job after Republican state lawmakers criticized her department's efforts to vaccinate¹ teens.

The Tennessee Department of Health ordered county workers recently to stop COVID-19 vaccination events aimed at teens and to stop online outreach to them. That information was reported by The Tennessean newspaper.

Words in This Story

outbreak –n. a sudden start or increase in fighting or disease

variant –n. something that is different in some way from others of the same kind

nurse –n. a person who is trained to care for sick or injured people and usually works in a hospital or with doctors

shift –n. a group of people who do some activity together

positive –adj. showing the presence of a germ or infection

K-12 –adj. relating to schools from kindergarten to 12th grade

1 vaccinate   

vt.给…接种疫苗；种牛痘

参考例句：

• Local health officials then can plan the best times to vaccinate people.这样，当地的卫生官员就可以安排最佳时间给人们接种疫苗。
• Doctors vaccinate us so that we do not catch smallpox.医生给我们打预防针使我们不会得天花。

2 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

3 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

4 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

5 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

6 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

7 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

8 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

9 vaccinations   

n.种痘，接种( vaccination的名词复数 )；牛痘疤

参考例句：

• Vaccinations ensure one against diseases. 接种疫苗可以预防疾病。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I read some publicity about vaccinations while waiting my turn at the doctor's. 在医生那儿候诊时，我读了一些关于接种疫苗的宣传。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

11 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

12 variants   

n.变体( variant的名词复数 )；变种；变型；（词等的）变体

参考例句：

• Those variants will be preserved in the'struggle for existence". 这些变异将在“生存竞争”中被保留下来。 来自辞典例句
• Like organisms, viruses have variants, generally called strains. 与其他生物一样，病毒也有变种，一般称之为株系。 来自辞典例句

13 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制