COVID-19 Guidelines

Children need camp more than ever before, and parents are looking closely into each camp’s safety precautions. Camp is needed for relief and respite from the pressures of quarantine, remote education, and pandemic stress. The JCC Camps at Medford, an award-winning day camp in Southern New Jersey, provides a safe and social day camp experience.

The JCC Camps at Medford’s policies and procedures listed below are based on guidelines from the Department of Health and the American Camp Association Field Guide. These guidelines are still evolving and can change at any time. While no facility can claim to be totally safe from COVID-19 or any other illness, the JCC Camps at Medford and Katz JCC are working to meet our mission of providing the safest and most welcoming facility possible for your children.

We’re so ready for camp!

Check out our informational video which outlines many of our policies and procedures this summer.

Health Safety Protocols and Procedures

Health Center

The JCC Camps at Medford Health Center is staffed with 4 RNs daily. Children will be triaged outside the Health Center and only brought inside if feeling ill. Any child feeling ill will be moved to an isolation space and sent home immediately.

Face Coverings

Cloth face coverings will be required at all times on the camp bus and in any indoor space at the JCC Camps at Medford. Face covering policies within a bunk cohort will be determined based on New Jersey Department of Health Recommendations.

Grouping

Each bunk will function as its own cohort/family. Bunks will minimally comingle with other bunks and remain distant from one another. When groups are required to interact with one another, a face covering will be required (while at the bus yard, on the pool deck, in changing areas, etc).

Food Service

Lunch will be served on outdoor pavilions and tented picnic areas. Lunches will be individually packaged and children will be spaced at picnic tables to ensure distancing within the group and from other groups.

Health Screening

Parents should closely monitor their children’s health at home. If your child(ren) are exhibiting any signs and symptoms or are simply not feeling well, they should not come to camp. A daily health screening will be required for all campers and staff. Any child with a temperature of 100.4^o F or greater, and their siblings, will be sent home for the day.

JCC Camps at Medford staff are trained to watch for COVID-19 symptoms, which include:

Fever or chills
Cough
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Fatigue
Muscle or body aches
Headache
New loss of taste or smell
Sore throat
Congestion or runny nose
Nausea or vomiting
Diarrhea

Sanitization & Cleaning

The JCC Camps at Medford facilities will go through a full cleaning and disinfection process prior to the start of camp. Staff will clean and sanitize high-touch areas throughout the camp day including bathrooms, railings, and tables. All program equipment will be sanitized between each period. A professional cleaning company will clean all facilities each evening.

Hand Washing & Sanitizing
Campers and staff will be required to frequently wash and sanitize their hands throughout the day. At a minimum, children will be required to wash their hands:

In between each activity period
After each bathroom use, and
Before consuming food.

Staff for each group will provide hand sanitizer to ensure easy access and frequent use.

What if There Is a COVID-19 Diagnosis at the JCC Camps at Medford?

What if my child is not feeling well?

If your child is not feeling well while at camp, an isolation space in/nearby the Health Center will be available for them and we will require that you pick up your child. We will monitor other children in that group for any symptoms and if suspected that they are not feeling well, they will be brought to the Health Center for further evaluation. Parents of children in the group will be notified that someone has gone home sick to ensure that they are further monitoring their child while maintaining the confidentiality of the sick child. Any child or staff member that goes home with a fever of 100.4^o F or higher must be fever free for 72 hours without fever-reducing medicine and must have a signed physician’s note to be permitted to return to Camp.

In the event of a positive COVID-19 case at Camp:

We will maintain the confidentiality of the individual at all times while mitigating the situation.
We will report the case to the NJ Department of Health and follow their guidelines that are in place at the time of reporting.
We will notify all participants and staff in the affected group and any other known contacts.
All facilities that the individual came in contact with will be vacated, deep cleaned and disinfected per CDC guidelines. Those guidelines for handling exposure and mitigating risk of exposure will be strictly followed.

If there is a confirmed case of COVID-19, the affected individual must be symptom-free for 14 days with a doctor’s note or present a negative test to return.

Additionally, if a child or staff member is sent home due to any of the above symptoms but does not have COVID-19, the participant will still need a doctor’s note and need to be fever-free for 72 hours without fever-reducing medicine to return to the JCC Camps at Medford.