By Heather Hollingsworth, Kantele Franko and Lindsey Tanner - The Associated Press
Outbreaks of COVID-19 in summer camps for children and adolescents in the United States have increased in states such as Texas, Illinois, Florida, Missouri and Kansas in recent weeks, setting off alarms that this could be a preview of next year. school.
In some cases,
these outbreaks have spread from the camp to the wider community
.
They occur at a time when the number of coronavirus cases in the country has started to rise, after having been stable for a while.
In the last two weeks, it went from an average of 12,000 new cases a day to 19,500, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
[Is a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine necessary? Israel starts putting it up and Pfizer discusses it with the FDA and CDC]
This increase according to experts is due to the low vaccination rate in many places and the spread of the delta variant, which is highly contagious.
Gwen Ford, a 43-year-old science teacher from Adrian, Missouri
, was cautiously optimistic when she observed the fall in infections in the spring
and enrolled her 12-year-old daughter at the West Central Christian Service camp.
Counselors and guides from summer camp in Glorieta, New Mexico, prepare for the reopening in this May 21, 2021, file photo.
But a day after the girl got home - after spending a week playing with her friends in the pool and sleeping on the dorm bunk beds - Ford received an email: A COVID-19 outbreak had emerged at the camp. from her daughter.
“It was very stressful. Just when we were feeling more comfortable this happened, "
said Ford, adding that his daughter tested negative for the virus.
Ford said he does plan to vaccinate his daughter, although he did not have time to do so after the government authorized Pfizer's vaccine for children 12 and older in May.
Students and teachers fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will not have to wear a mask in schools
July 9, 202100: 23
Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University, told
The Associated Press
that he is not surprised by these outbreaks as summer camps reopen.
And he doubted that they had thought "of all the implications of camping during the pandemic."
Ideally, he said,
all adults and minors in the camp (old enough) would be required to present proof of having been vaccinated against the coronavirus
.
In addition to taking other measures such as serving food in groups, putting fewer children in cabins and requiring the use of masks indoors, especially for unvaccinated people.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated its guide to school reentry last week, stating that vaccinated students and teachers do not need to wear masks indoors or maintain a distance of at least to minus three feet.
[The delta variant accounts for more than half of COVID-19 cases in the US]
Outbreaks at summer camps
"could certainly be a precursor" to what happens when young people return to classrooms in the fall
, said Dr. Michelle Prickett, a pulmonary and intensive care specialist at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
The result will depend on vaccination rates and which virus variants are prevalent, he detailed.
"We just have to be vigilant," Prickett emphasized.
Schaffner believes schools won't face similar outbreaks because they tend to be more structured and disciplined than camps and because most have already made adjustments over the past year and a half to deal with the pandemic.
But he stressed that
the best way to reduce risk is by vaccinating the majority of people.
"There are many parts of the country that simply have not understood this," he said.
Are people vaccinated against COVID-19 delta variant protected?
An expert explains
July 12, 202103: 37
Currently the application of vaccines for children under 12 years of age has not been authorized by the CDC, as studies are still being carried out to determine its safety and efficacy in this population group.
Ford, the teacher whose daughter was saved from the infection at summer camp in Missouri, says she
is very concerned about what may happen on the way back to school
.
“With the increase in cases, I am concerned that we will not be able to go back to normal, and we will have to ask people to go back to wearing masks and all that.
And I have the feeling that there would be a big discussion, "he said.