TORONTO — After dealing with more than 100 cases of the H1N1 virus in the first session of camp, Michael Wolf, the director of Camp Ramah in Utterson, Ont., said he is happy to announce that the camp is now flu free.
“Everyone co-operated, and the parents in the Toronto area supported us by taking their kids home to recuperate, if possible.”
The ailing campers who did remain at camp – all reported cases were mild – were isolated from the other campers, “and they became their own community. They took part in their own activities, including an arts and crafts project in which they made ceramic pigs,” Wolf told The CJN.
“By and large, this core group took care of each other, and we are proud of them.”
At Camp Agudah, an Orthodox camp in Port Carling, Ont., about 40 campers fell ill, some of whom were sent home, and at Camp George, a Reform movement camp in Parry Sound, Ont., some 20 campers were sent home to recuperate.
Camp Tamarack, a Jewish-owned camp in Bracebridge, said that since July 16 when it had an “unspecified” number of cases, it has seen “a virtual elimination in the number of individuals with the familiar symptoms of this particular virus.”
Dr. Na-Koshie Lamptey, acting associate medical officer of health at the Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit, said she is “quite pleased” that outbreaks at two of the camps are officially over, and that the unit expects to declare the other two camps free of the virus in the coming days.
She praised the camps for working co-operatively with the health unit to quickly isolate ill campers and for communicating good hygiene to all campers and staff.
“The camps were receptive to the message we communicated and were diligent about communicating with parents in order to reassure them.”
Meanwhile, at Camp Kadimah, in Barss Corner, N.S., visitors day, set for July 26, was cancelled due to an outbreak of the virus at camp.
In a letter to the parents, camp co-chairs Michael Pink, Jim Spatz and Victor Goldberg said that after consultations with Nova Scotia Public Health and discussions with the camp’s medical staff, they decided “it was the most prudent course of action.
“Fortunately, all cases have been mild. The kids are quickly getting better and are in good spirits. Our priority is always the health and well-being of our campers and staff. We have implemented many protocols and are seeing a reduction in new cases, and hope that we have turned the corner.”
They said they were “disappointed” to have had to make the decision to cancel visitors day, “but know that it is the best course.”
