TORONTO — Jewish camps were being vigilant last week about screening for the H1N1 virus, but none reported any suspicious cases of flu among campers or staff.
Rabbi Elliott Kleinman, chief program officer for the Union for Progressive Judaism, the umbrella body for Camp George in Parry Sound, Ont., said staff sent out letters to parents telling them not to send their children to camp if they’re feeling ill.
“We told them to keep their kids home for a few days, and we told the staff the same thing. We take the health and safety of our campers and staff seriously.”
He said that the camp would be taking campers’ temperatures when they arrived and would “push basic hygiene such as washing their hands and covering their mouths when they cough or sneeze.”
At Camp Shalom, Canadian Young Judaea’s camp in Gravenhurst, Ont., director Adam Shulman said his staff would also be taking campers’ temperatures and asking them a series of informal questions about their general health.
“We do a regular lice check when campers arrive, and this will be part of that check,” he said.
“We checked with physicians and the Ontario Camping Association, and this is the protocol they suggested. We’re trying to be preventative and pro-active. We won’t hesitate to send a camper or staff member home if they’re sick.”
At Camp Ramah, located in Utterson, Ont., campers had their temperature taken before they got on camp buses from Toronto, Hamilton, Ottawa and four American cities, and at Camp Gesher in Cloyne, Ont., staff screened campers for fever and planned to teach basic hygiene.
“We have hand-washing stations all around the camp,” Gesher’s director, Shaul Zobary, said.
Meanwhile, two Jewish camps in Texas last week reported cases of swine flu. Camp Young Judaea and the Greene Family Camp, both overnight summer camps, will remain open, the Jewish Herald-Voice in Houston reported.
Camp Young Judaea had eight cases, including campers and staff, as well as 25 campers and two counsellors quarantined with flu symptoms. The Greene Family Camp had one confirmed swine flu case and four campers with symptoms.
Swine flu also affected the start of at least three other Jewish-sponsored camps in the United States.
The Reform movement’s Camp Newman-Swig in Santa Rosa, Calif., delayed its opening after some staff came down with the flu, while at the movement’s Camp Coleman in Georgia, 15 staff came down with flu, delaying the opening there.
As well, at the Conservative movement’s Camp Ramah Darom in Georgia, several campers came down with flu and were to remain isolated for a week.
With files from JTA.
