Baiting Hollow Scout Camp staff member tests positive for COVID-19

A staff member at Baiting Hollow Scout Camp has tested positive for COVID-19, the camp announced yesterday.

The staff member was asymptomatic and tested positive for coronavirus during their college’s back-to-school testing protocol, according to Camp Director Jim Grimaldi.

Several other staff members and campers are self-quarantining as a precautionary measure, Grimaldi said. Families who were in contact with the staff member were notified over the weekend.

No one else has tested positive so far in connection with the incident, he said.

It is the first confirmed case in connection with the camp since it began holding weekly day programs at the end of June, Grimaldi said. Overnight camps are not allowed this summer under current state guidelines, so the camp has been limited to day camp programs only this year.

The camp plans to remain open, under guidance from the state and county health departments.

The camp’s projected enrollment this year, about 850 campers between June and August, will be almost half of its usual attendance of about 1,400. But Grimaldi says this summer’s camp has been a valuable opportunity for local children to get back outside with other kids after the spring’s school shutdown.

“The value is really for the kids mental health,” Grimaldi said. “The connection they’re making, being with other kids their age — not just talking to them, but being involved in activities — is a very important thing.”

The camp has been following extensive cleaning and safety protocols to keep campers safe, Grimaldi explained, including thorough daily cleanings and disinfecting of equipment and common areas after each use.

Campers this year are divided into groups of less than 15 children, which don’t mingle with campers from other cohorts for most activities. Campers wear masks indoors or when they are in a common area, such as a bathroom, that may facilitate interaction with campers from other cohorts.

Staff must wear masks when they’re within 10 feet of a camper or another staff member, “which is basically all day,” Grimaldi said.

When they arrive each morning, each camper and staff member undergoes a health screening, including a COVID-19 symptom and exposure questionnaire as well as a temperature check. 

“There’s certainly nothing normal about this year’s summer camp,” Grimaldi said, “but they’re all enjoying being back outdoors again and just being able to go on with some of the things we used to do pre-COVID.”