The number of cases soars after the COVID epidemic in Camp Chautauqua

July 16 – Significant outbreaks of COVID-19 have emerged from a religious rally held at Camp Chautauqua in Miami Twp. and a Boy Scout Camp held at Woodland Trails in Preble County.

Several other summer camps in the region are continuing as planned with increased sanitation and other health and safety measures.

The number of COVID-19 cases recorded for residents of Ohio and Kentucky during the recent Camp Chautauqua outbreak has risen from 30 to 78, according to Dayton and Montgomery County Public Information Supervisor Dan Suffoletto.

Of those 78, 12 were members of churches in Montgomery County, one from a church in Butler County, three from churches in Hamilton County, and two members of the Franklin County church. These 18 were confirmed to be unvaccinated, but information on their age was not available, according to Suffoletto.

While there is no way to tell if any of the cases were of the Delta variant, Suffoletto urged residents to be wary of the new strain.

“Just because the Delta variant exists, you might be at more risk because it’s a lot more contagious and it could make you sicker,” he said.

The Camp Chautauqua administration has done everything possible to follow CDC guidance throughout this process, President and CEO Jason Harmeyer said. Although there was an initial disconnect between the administration of Camp Chautauqua and public health at the start of the outbreak, the main concern was the privacy of the campers, Harmeyer said.

“They wanted all the information,” he said. “I felt like I could get the important details needed to keep these students safe and get them out faster and in a more meaningful way.”

Looking back, Harmeyer said he wished his team could streamline their communications with public health.

“From day one, I would have had my team as well as the Montgomery County Board of Health and I would have really worked (with them) from the start,” he said. “That way we could have been on the same post and talking from the same platform.”

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The work Public Health has done to combat the spread of COVID-19 is very important, Harmeyer added.

“I respect and admire what public health officials do on the front lines every day,” he said.

Camp Chautauqua will continue to host events and plan to act under state guidelines, Harmeyer said.

“We want to operate within what the state of Ohio calls prudent right now,” Harmeyer said. “This entire year up to July 1, we had no cases. I would hate to let one week mar the others. We will base everything we do to move forward on the science that results from any kind of impact between gatherings looking back to July. “

For now, groups planning to stay at Camp Chautauqua have chosen to provide a negative COVID test result within three days of their visit, a move Harmeyer said he and his team supported.

“In light of what we’re dealing with right now, (it’s) probably a good measure,” he said.

The goal of everyone involved should be to learn from this experience, noted Harmeyer.

“The next chapter says, ‘How do we take care of the people who take care of this?’” He said. “The takeaway is we want even greater collaboration. We want even better communication. So that’s my commitment to move forward.”

During the Boy Scouts Camp outbreak, at least four positive cases resulted from the gathering of nearly 600 people, according to a press release from the Miami Valley Council of Boy Scouts of America. As a result, several upcoming camp sessions have been canceled, the statement said.

“We have determined that these four positive cases and their potential close contacts unfortunately inhibited our ability to safely conduct the remaining sessions of this camp season of the Cub Resident Camp,” the statement said.

Four people who tested positive in the Preble County outbreak have been confirmed to be residents of Montgomery County by Suffoletto. Three of the four residents were not yet old enough to be eligible for vaccination, and the remaining individual had been vaccinated, Suffoletto said. Public health has been in contact with these people, according to Suffoletto.

Other local organizations continue to organize summer camps and gatherings as planned. Washington Township. Rec Center is in the middle of a 10-week summer camp program and has had no confirmed cases of COVID, according to Washington Twp. Director of Communications Kate Trangenstein.

The recreation center has measures in place to keep their camp environments as safe as possible, including increased sanitation tactics, reduced camp sizes and limits on staff turnover, Trangenstein said.

Girl Scouts in West Ohio have also adjusted their operations to keep COVID out, according to director of marketing and communications KayAnn Taylor Rutter. Participants are required to pass a health exam before attending a Girl Scout summer camp, and there are also social distancing measures and increased sanitation practices in place, Rutter said.

“We have taken a very preventative approach to our summer activities,” she said.

Public Health encourages all eligible applicants to get vaccinated as soon as possible. It is recommended that unvaccinated people wear masks in public places to decrease the spread of COVID-19.