COVID-19 outbreak reaches 25 cases stemming from Waterbury rec camp exposure

August 10, 2021 | By Lisa Scagliotti 

Waterbury summer rec campers enjoy the town pool. Photo by Gordon Miller

NOTE: The original Aug. 6 story was updated on Aug. 10. This includes extended hours below for COVID-19 testing at the Waterbury Ambulance station on Guptil Road.

The spread of COVID-19 in a recent outbreak that began at Waterbury’s summer recreation day camp has reached 25 cases, according to the state Department of Health which continues to investigate the situation.

That is the latest figure as of Tuesday afternoon from the state which is tracking cases. No further details were released such as ages of the individuals affected and whether cases had spread beyond children enrolled in the summer camp program.

Prior to this outbreak, Waterbury had logged 189 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic in March 2020, according to community-specific data through July 28 compiled by the state Health Department. The outbreak represents a fraction of the latest surge in cases statewide. More than 300 cases were reported in Vermont from Saturday through Tuesday, representing the highest daily counts since April, according to Health Department data.

Reached late Monday, Waterbury Recreation Director Nick Nadeau said he had not been informed of the new case total which was 24 on Monday. “I didn’t know it was that big,” he said.

Camp this week is limited to children who were not in attendance last week when the outbreak began as long as they received a negative COVID-19 test. Nadeau on Monday said there would be fewer than 20 children attending this week.

The news of the outbreak unfolded last week and by early Friday evening, the Vermont Health Department said 13 campers, most of whom are under the age of 12 and therefore unvaccinated, had tested positive. “No instances of severe illness among campers or staff have been reported,” the Health Department said. 

The cases mostly involve children in grades 1 through 3 although several are in the kindergarten and middle school groups at camp, officials said. 

“Contact tracing is in progress, and everyone impacted is receiving appropriate guidance and information, including about getting tested and any needed quarantine and isolation,” the Health Department statement said. “Camp staff and town officials have been working with the department to keep camp families and staff informed.”

The eight-week camp has summer enrollment of approximately 170 youngsters from kindergarten through seventh grade. Weekly attendance varies, Nadeau explained. Last week was the seventh week and was somewhat chaotic and confusing as the COVID-19 cases emerged and contact tracing began. 

“This is such hard news to swallow, especially after the six incredibly outstanding weeks we’ve had this summer,” Nadeau said in an email to camp parents Friday evening, Aug. 6. “We walked the kids through this today at pool time and explained why this was their last day and how difficult it might be for all of us to hear this news. But we ended with how this was to ensure they had a smooth and safe transition into the school year in a couple of weeks, where they will be able to see their friends again.”

School in the Harwood Unified Union School District is scheduled to begin Aug. 26. State officials this week issued recommendations that all districts begin with full-time in-person learning with all staff and students wearing masks for the first 10 days of school before relaxing mask-wearing practices. 

School officials said they will review state guidance and issue information by Aug. 20 on how COVID-19 protocols will work. 

In its communication Friday, the Health Department advised people in the community to be aware of the outbreak and to get tested for COVID-19 if they have been in contact with anyone involved in the program. 

“There may have been multiple opportunities for exposure in the community. For this reason, the Health Department is recommending that people who may have had contact with someone associated with the camp monitor themselves and their children for symptoms, and to consider getting tested for the virus and isolating at home while awaiting their results,” the department said. Health officials recommend testing regardless of vaccination status.  

Waterbury Ambulance Service has extended its testing hours at its ambulance station located at 1727 Guptil Road in Waterbury Center over the weekend and into this week. Testing on Tuesday was scheduled for 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Wednesday 12-7 p.m.; Thursday 1-5 p.m.; Friday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Additional testing locations and times throughout Vermont can be found at healthvermont.gov/covid-19/testing.

The Health Department has not said whether the Waterbury cases involve the highly contagious Delta variant of the COVID-19 virus. However, state Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine on Tuesday said that approximately 90 percent of cases checked for the strain have been found to be the more transmissible version of the virus. 

Car show this weekend 

This weekend will see an influx of visitors to Waterbury for the Vermont Antique & Classic Car Meet set for Farr’s Field Friday through Sunday. The largely outdoor event organized by the Vermont Automobile Enthusiasts will include a parade through downtown Waterbury on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The lower block of Stowe Street will be closed off for a street party from 7 to 10 p.m. The annual event is in its 68th year this year and typically attracts hundreds of attendees. Admission is $12; children 12 and under are free. 

Organizers have not listed any specific recommendations for attendees regarding COVID-19. Attempts to contact officials for the show have so been unsuccessful. The show is however listed on the state Health Department’s website for free walk-in vaccination clinics this weekend. It’s scheduled to offer the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Vermont Secretary of Commerce and Community Development Lindsay Kurrle on Tuesday said she recognized how important events such as the car show are to the economy. She called the current surge in COVID-19 cases “a bump in the road” and noted how the outdoor nature of the show would make it a relatively safe event, particularly for vaccinated individuals. “I hope people feel comfortable going outside and enjoying this event,” she said. 

Some local businesses that operate indoors have begun asking patrons to wear masks again, despite there no longer being a state mandate for masks. Kurrle said that request is understandable. “Some businesses have been so disrupted” by COVID-19, she acknowledged. “If they feel they need to add another layer [of precaution] they certainly can ask people to do that. I hope customers will support them and put on a mask.” 

Zero to 25 cases in just over a week

The evening of Saturday, July 31, was when Nadeau said he heard of the first child testing positive for COVID-19. The camper had not been in attendance the prior week, so the news didn’t raise serious concern, he said. On Monday Aug. 2, however, two more cases were confirmed, prompting the camp and the state Health Department was informed. The advice was for camp to close the first-through-third grade location - the group where the cases turned up - for the following day in order for Health Department contract tracing staff to communicate with families. Kindergarten campers and middle school campers have separate meeting spots. 

On Wednesday, Aug. 4, the program on advice from state health officials reopened all three of its locations. Attendance the week before the outbreak was over 100 per day; that dropped to about 50-60 campers per day last week, due both to the COVID-19 situation and light enrollment for the week as families had other plans, Nadeau explained. 

Camp is scheduled to end this Friday, Aug. 13. For all of the campers who attended last week though, Friday Aug. 6 was their last day. A Recreation Department email to parents of campers at the end of last week explained: “Upon continued contract tracing, the health department has advised the town to close the program to the unvaccinated children in all grades (K-7) who attended this week.”

Older students who are vaccinated and any campers who did not attend last week were considered eligible to attend this week, Nadeau said, after getting tested. He added that should any additional cases emerge this week, camp would end for the season before the 13th. 

“I am really sorry about all of this; from the bottom of my heart. This is not how I wanted camp to end for these kids, but we had to do the right thing and take the health department up on their most recent advice (this afternoon) to end the program for the group of kids who might have been infected this week so that we could minimize any potential outbreaks,” Nadeau wrote to parents. 

Camp staff had tested negative and are vaccinated, Nadeau noted, so they were available to work this week.

Camp will offer families refunds for the missed last-week session and days children were out for COVID-19 reasons. Nadeau told families that counselors were planning an end-of-summer celebration for this Friday as a drive-through event with an online slideshow; staff would return any belongings children left behind given the hasty conclusion. 

“Again, I am so sorry for this incredibly sad and abrupt news,” Nadeau told parents, but the decision to end camp for those who attended this week was made “to keep children safe and healthy.” 

Rec camp operated through the summer of 2020 with strict COVID-19 protocols in place and did not have any cases emerge. Nadeau said he regretted that this summer’s camp fell short of the same goal by two weeks. “We were so, so good,” he said. 

On Monday, Nadeau said he had received many messages from parents who were understanding of the situation and appreciated the steps taken at camp that kept the virus at bay for most of the summer. “I got some nice notes and cards,” Nadeau said. “Someone even dropped off a banana bread.”