Three COVID-19 cases close town rec camp location for a day

August 3, 2021 | By Lisa Scagliotti 

Summer recreation camp kids and their counselors make their way up Main Street to the town swimming pool recently. Photo by Gordon Miller

UPDATE 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 3

One of Waterbury's three summer recreation camp locations was closed on Tuesday after three of the campers tested positive for COVID-19 but plans were on track to reopen for Wednesday, according to town officials.

After consultation with the Vermont Department of Health and state contact tracing staff communicating with families in the group involved, Recreation Director Nick Nadeau said late Tuesday afternoon that all camp locations would be open on Wednesday.

Health Department staff reached most of the families on Tuesday, Nadeau said in an email to parents. Everyone who was cleared was allowed to send their children back to camp on Wednesday. Anyone who was not cleared was to follow Health Department instructions and anyone who had not spoken with a Health Department staffer was likely to receive a call Wednesday morning, Nadeau said. "If you have received a message, please make sure to call back so you are cleared for camp," he instructed families.

Nadeau said it was unclear to him late Tuesday how many campers might need to get tested as a result of the contact tracing queries.

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Municipal Manager Bill Shepeluk opened Monday evening’s meeting of the Waterbury Select Board with the news of the first instance of cases in the town’s youth recreation programs since the pandemic began. 

Shepeluk relayed information from Recreation Director Nick Nadeau who said he learned over the weekend that one camper tested positive. Late Monday afternoon, Nadeau said he received word that two other youngsters from the same camp cohort were positive for COVID-19 as well. 

All three of the cases are campers enrolled in the summer program that runs through Aug. 13 and all attend camp at St. Leo’s Hall on South Main Street. 

Given that all of the cases were in one age group that meets at one location, the recommendation from state health officials was to close the affected group for contact tracing and testing. 

The camp serves 130 children from kindergarten through seventh grade divided into three groups that meet at separate locations. Thirty kindergarteners meet at  the recreation building at Anderson Field near the town swimming pool; the camp’s 60 first- through third-graders meet at St. Leo’s, the hall belonging to St. Andrew’s Catholic Church next to the State Office Complex; another 40 kids in grades 4-7 meet at Wesley United Methodist Church on South Main Street. 

Nadeau said he was in touch with the Vermont Health Department Monday evening and was advised to have campers in the affected group stay home on Tuesday while Health Department contact tracing staff could determine which other campers and staff might be close contacts with the affected individuals so that they may get tested next. 

Parents of all campers were notified Monday night via email about today’s closure of one of the camp spots, Nadeau said. In addition, families with children in the affected group and siblings in the other groups were asked to keep those children at home as well today until contact tracing is completed. 

As was the case when COVID-19 cases were identified in schools, if families do not receive a call from the Health Department, they are not considered a close contact who was possibly exposed. 

As a measure of extra caution, Shepeluk asked the select board to approve a request from Nadeau to require that children and staff in the rec program wear masks indoors for the remainder of the week and longer if recommended by health officials. The board approved that unanimously. 

Nadeau said he asked that the select board weigh in regarding mask-wearing to make it an official policy and not just a staff recommendation. “Many parents don’t want their kids to wear masks,” he explained. 

The board discussion Monday evening brought up that point. Select board member Dani Kehlmann asked what would happen if parents said they didn’t want their child to comply. 

Shepeluk pointed out that children wore masks in school and said he didn’t think wearing one indoors for a few days was unreasonable. “If you don’t want your kids to wear masks, then take them home,” he said. “Most of the time the kids are outside.” 

Since the board does not meet again until after rec camp ends for the summer, the board made the measure subject to guidance from town staff after consulting with the state Health Department. 

Shepeluk said town officials would follow recommendations closely. “I don’t want to be alarmist,” he said. “If this becomes a wider-spread outbreak, we will do more. We hope this will be it.”  

This is the first incidence of COVID-19 in any of the town youth programs since the pandemic began in 2020. Nadeau noted that recreation programs last summer and during the school year required masks and distancing, but those  rules were dropped in June when the state removed its COVID-19 restrictions in June as the state reached a high level of vaccination. 

Most of the participants in the summer program however are too young to be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, now available to those age 12 and older. 

Summer recreation programs follow guidelines from the state similar to those for public schools and child care programs. Mask-wearing currently is optional indoors and not considered necessary for outdoor activities. 

Although all of the summer rec campers go to the town pool, the program is divided into three groups meeting in separate locations. Photo by Gordon Miller

With a favorable weather forecast for this week, Nadeau said he anticipates minimal indoor time for campers, so that mask-wearing should be for short periods of the day.

“We’re planning on doing everything outside as much as possible,” Nadeau said. 

Looking ahead, Nadeau said he would send out an update to families regarding the St. Leo’s rec camp group once he heard back from the Health Department about contact tracing results. Any further changes in this week’s camp schedule would be made based on contact tracing and testing, he said.   

The eight-week summer recreation program wraps up Aug. 13 and the department has one additional week through Aug. 20 when a smaller middle school hiking and fishing camp is scheduled, Nadeau said. The department also plans to run an after school program once the school year begins on Aug. 26, he said. 

Nadeau said he was disappointed to have cases pop up after many months of running programming and navigating the coronavirus successfully. “It looked safe - and it had been - up to this point,” he said, adding that he was confident staff and campers could pivot to return to taking precautions in the final days of summer camp. "I think we're set up as best as possible for the situation."

This story will be updated.