The novelty of the Covid virus was both its novelty (we hadn’t seen anything quite like it, so we had no immunity) and its ability to quickly mutate (therefore, waves of infection caused by new variants). Data has shown that the novelty has worn off, and barring some major shift in the virus, the SARS CoV2 virus and its offspring will join the long list of respiratory viruses that routinely infect us, complicating our lives but not threatening them.  

This new reality is summarized in a May 2023 joint statement from the American Camp Association and the Alliance for Camp Health:

“COVID-19 is one of a multitude of respiratory viruses that may be present at camp this year, the vast majority of which are mild, self-limited, and do not require testing to change the treatment or trajectory of the illness in healthy children.”

With this in mind, here is what will happen with any camper (or staff member) who develops symptoms of an upper respiratory infection (URI) while at Covenant Point in the summer of 2023:

• If a camper develops URI symptoms with fever, they will be removed from camp activities and monitored in our health center.
• If fever persists for more than 24 hrs, they probably are going to stay contagious for several more days and should return home.
• Given that Covid is no longer a unique threat, campers and staff with URI symptoms will not be routinely tested for Covid, as it would not change the above management.