Our COVID-19 Safety Protocols

Once camp begins, parents/guardians must continue to screen their camper(s) for symptoms and report that screening via a daily questionnaire. Parents/guardians must also continue to monitor themselves and the other members of their household for symptoms throughout the summer.

For campers:

Each child must wear their own clean face covering when arriving at camp each day, or when boarding and riding the bus to camp, and must keep it on through the arrival process. Face coverings are also required whenever campers are indoors. Campers have the option to remove their face covering when outdoors and with their cohort. Face coverings are then worn again at dismissal and for the duration of bus rides home.

For staff:

Staff members must wear face coverings during arrival and dismissal, and whenever indoors. Staff members have the option to remove their face covering when outdoors, but are required to wear them when interacting closely with a camper or another staff member (within 3 feet).  

High traffic times such as arrival and dismissal will be staggered to facilitate social distancing, decrease congestion, and ensure campers from different groups are not coming in direct contact.

Hands of all campers and staff are washed before and after each activity. If not possible at a given location, and for other times during the day, every staff member also carries hand sanitizer for camper and staff use.

In the case of a Camper/Staff Member:

If a child is exhibiting any COVID-19 symptoms, they must stay home from camp. If symptoms present at camp, the child is isolated and picked up by their parent/guardian immediately. In either scenario, the parent/guardian must then contact their child’s physician. The physician determines whether the child’s symptoms warrant testing. If the physician determines that the child doesn’t need to get tested, the physician must issue documented clearance so the child may return to camp (after being symptom-free for at least 24 hours). If testing is indicated, the child cannot come back unless they test negatively. Whether a camper is returning to camp through a physician’s clearance note or a negative COVID-19 test, that campers must be feeling well and asymptomatic for at least 24 hours. 

If a staff member is exhibiting any COVID-19 symptoms they must stay home from camp. If symptoms present at camp, that staff member must leave camp immediately. Staff members who are vaccinated must not return to camp before they feel well for at least 24 hours. Unvaccinated staff members must be cleared by a negative COVID-19 test and must feel well for at least 24 hours before returning to camp. 

If a case of COVID-19 is suspected or identified in a camper or staff member, The Nature Place alerts the Rockland County Health Department. The health department then traces all contacts and “the State and local health departments may, under their legal authority, implement monitoring and movement restrictions of infected or exposed persons including home isolation or quarantine.”

If a camper/staff member tests positive, they must enter home quarantine, and the Department of Health will determine the quarantine’s length. 

If a camper/staff member tests positive, all members of their pod must enter home quarantine as directed by the health department, who will communicate guidelines for when they can return to camp.

With all of this, we ask that families and staff err on the side of caution.

In the case of a Parent/Guardian or Household Member:

Please read the following from the State Guidelines, regarding protocols that would be followed if a parent/guardian of a camper exhibits symptoms or tests positive for COVID-19:

In the event that a parent/guardian of a camper must be isolated because they have tested positive for, or exhibited symptoms of, COVID-19, the parent/ guardian must be advised that they cannot enter the site for any reason, including picking up their child.

If the parent/guardian – who is a member of the same household as the child/camper – is exhibiting signs of COVID-19 or has been tested and is positive for the virus, utilize an emergency contact authorized by the parent to come pick up the child. As a ‘close contact,’ the child/camper must not return to the child care or day camp for the duration of the quarantine.

If the parent/guardian– who is a member of the same household as the child/camper – is being quarantined as a precautionary measure, without symptoms or a positive test, staff should walk out or deliver the child/camper to the parent/guardian at the boundary of, or outside, the premises. As a ‘contact of a contact’ the child/camper may return to the child care or day camp during the duration of the quarantine.

If a child/camper or their household member becomes symptomatic for COVID-19 and/or tests positive, the child must quarantine and may not return or attend the child care or day camp program until after quarantine is complete.

In an extenuating circumstance where a visitor absolutely must come on site, temperature checks and screenings will be conducted.