COVID-19

2022

Latest Updates

July 2022: We sent notice of our updated COVID-19 protocols. See below for latest updates. Changes include asking campers and staff to do an at-home rapid test before they arrive for their first day, discouraging carpooling to camp, requiring masks for carpool transportation while camp is in session, sending home close contacts with a high likelihood of infection while at camp, and notification to all campers and staff within 24 hours of all positive cases.
May 2022: We sent notice of our planned COVID-19 protocols to keep campers and staff informed.

Summer 2022 COVID-19 Protocols

(as of July 1, 2022)

We want to inform you in advance of our COVID-19 protocols for this summer. We’ve used the most recent guidance from the CDC, Girl Scouts of Northern California, American Camp Association, and Amador County Environmental Department to inform our protocols. If COVID-19 guidelines change, we will adjust accordingly and communicate any changes to you in advance of your camp session starting.

Know that COVID-19 exposure can and will happen at camp, regardless of any protocols or precautions we may have in place--this is a reality of the current state of the virus. Our goal is to prevent it from spreading when it does occur so we can continue operating for everyone else at camp.

Before Camp
Two Sentinels strongly recommends, but does not require, vaccines for all eligible adults and youth. In alignment with GSNorcal and California public schools, we are not requiring proof of vaccination or negative test to attend camp.
Campers and staff are not permitted at camp if any of the following is true:

They test positive for COVID-19 within 10 days of arrival.
Anyone in their household tests positive for COVID-19 within 10 days of arrival.
They have had known contact with a person who has COVID-19 within 10 days of arrival.

Please be careful in the week leading up to your camp session. Limit who you are exposed to as much as you can.
We are asking that you test with an at-home rapid test in the morning before you leave for your first day of camp.

If you test positive, whether you have symptoms or not, you must stay home. If you are sick, even if you are testing negative, stay home. Call the camp phone ASAP if you are not coming to camp: (925) 289-9469.
Campers and staff are not permitted at camp if anyone in their household tests positive for COVID-19 within 10 days of arrival or they have had known contact with a person who has COVID-19 within 10 days of arrival.
Staff: We recommend you test a few times leading up to camp in case you come up positive earlier so we can adjust coverage for you sooner.

Getting to Camp

Anyone riding the bus will need to wear a mask for the ride, except while eating or drinking. Campers will be allowed to intermingle on the bus.
We discourage carpooling with anyone outside your household to camp to limit prolonged close contact exposure. If you must carpool with people outside your household, please wear masks and have the windows down for the ride.

Being at Camp

Masks are optional for most activities, indoor or outdoor, but we ask that you bring masks in case they become needed. Indoor experiences are minimal at camp, but include things like occasional carpooling to offsite activities.
We will be asking campers and staff to mask whenever being transported in a vehicle during camp sessions.
We support and encourage anyone who feels more comfortable wearing a mask more often to continue to do so.

Coming Down Sick

To prevent the spread of COVID-19, we will have a strict illness policy at camp. Sick staff and campers will be sent home. We will be in contact with the local health department, as necessary, to stay in continued compliance in relation to all health and safety matters.
Campers or staff who are ill and present with COVID-19 symptoms will receive a rapid COVID-19 test.
- If they test negative, they will stay under nurse observation.
  - If they are not well enough to resume camp activities within a reasonable amount of time, our camp nurses will follow CDC guidelines and use clinical judgment to decide if they need to be sent home, regardless of COVID-19 rapid test results.
  - If their symptoms resolve within a reasonable amount of time, they will be retested before returning to their group.
- If they test positive, they will be isolated and sent home immediately. It will be the family’s responsibility to pick up their camper.
  - We will only rapid test close contacts if they present with COVID-19 symptoms or if they are asymptomatic but would like to test due to close contact.
  - We will notify close contacts of exposure via phone and the rest of the session via email within 24 hours.
  - The directors and nurses will work with our local health department and Girl Scout Council to determine the level of risk. We will be sending home close contacts based on time and duration of prolonged, close contact exposure and the likelihood of infection at camp, regardless of whether the close contact tests negative or has any symptoms. Because our facilities are largely outdoors, close contact will most likely resemble a positive that occurs early on at camp and people who carpooled with the positive person unmasked, or those who are members of the same household.

Meal Times

Campers and staff can intermingle at meals.

Sleeping

Campers will continue to sleep outside in nests, head to toe, as normal.
Staff will continue to sleep within earshot of campers. They may sleep outdoors or in a personal tent, as usual.
In cases of inclement weather, campers will move into their unit house or tents.

Other protocols we’ll continue

Require all campers and staff to use hand sanitizer before every meal.
Bleach bathrooms daily.
Bleach all dishes after they're washed.
Wear gloves when handling food or dealing with injuries.

We are monitoring our entire camp’s safety and working with our local health department and Girl Scout Council. We ask for your continued flexibility and cooperation as we may need to make adjustments to keep camp running. These scenarios may include having units sit together (not co-mingling) at meals and moving staff to alternate units for coverage if staff get sick and must go home.

2021

Latest Updates

June 2021: We sent notice of updated COVID-19 protocols. See below for our current protocols.
May 2021: We sent notice of our planned COVID-19 protocols to keep campers and staff safe this summer. See below for our COVID-19 protocol.
April 2021: We've received indication from the Amador County Health Department, CDC, and ACA that we should be able to run camp this summer. We are preparing to have camp with modifications for safety and will provide details on those modifications as soon as we have them. At this time, we recommend all staff get vaccinated if they are able.
February 2021: We went ahead with staff registration. We don't yet have an indication of the possibility of camp this summer but we need to proceed as if it will run normally to be prepared in time if that's the case. We'll proceed with public registration starting March 6.
January 2021: Once again, we are monitoring the COVID-19 situation and working closely with Girl Scouts of Northern California and our local health department to determine whether we can run camp as normal, in a modified way, or not at all for Summer 2021. We are preparing as if camp will run as normal and will update this page and send emails to camper parents as we have more definitive information. We pushed back staff and public registration by 1 month to February and March to see if we gained more definitive signs of whether camp could run this summer.

Summer 2021 COVID-19 Protocols

(as of June 30, 2021)

We’ve reviewed the most recent CDC and American Camping Association guidelines with the Amador County Environmental Department and identified our COVID-19 protocols to ensure camper and staff safety this summer. If COVID-19 guidelines change, we will adjust accordingly and communicate any changes to you in advance of your camp session starting.

Before Camp
The CDC recommends that campers, their families, and camp staff follow the guidance for travelers in the 14 days before camp arrival to reduce exposure to COVID-19. The CDC recommends unvaccinated campers and staff engage in a 2-week pre-arrival quarantine that includes physical distancing, mask-wearing when not at home, avoiding unnecessary travel, and refraining from indoor social gatherings with people outside of their households.

Getting to Camp

All vaccinated camp persons (staff and campers) must present proof of vaccination upon arriving at the bus stop, or upon arrival on camp property if you are staff, a staff kid, or your parent is driving you up to camp.
All unvaccinated camp persons (staff and campers) must present a negative COVID-19 test result from within 3 days of arriving at camp. Any type of COVID-19 test is acceptable.
- If you had COVID-19 in the 3 months prior to camp, you can bring either proof of the fact that you had COVID-19 and when OR a positive antibody test result.
- If you arrive at the bus stop or at camp without proof of vaccination or a negative test, we will have a few rapid tests available for purchase. If you test negative, you can get on the bus or enter camp. If you test positive, you will not be able to get on the bus or enter camp property.
  - We will issue you a full refund if you test positive.
  - Yes, this means if you have driven to camp, don’t have the required proof, and you get a positive rapid test, you will need to turn around and go home. So please get your negative test prior to arriving!
  - If you get a PCR test following a positive rapid test and the PCR test comes back negative, you may come to camp late if you desire.
Anyone riding the bus will need to wear a mask for the ride. When campers board the bus, they will be seated with their unit.

Being at Camp

Masks
- Once campers arrive at camp, their unit functions as a cohort. Because everyone in a cohort will either have shown proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 test, we will follow the CDC recommendation that campers and unit staff don’t have to wear masks when they are just with their cohort.
- Bring several masks with you to camp. We will have a limited supply of disposable ones.
- For most outdoor activities, we will not require masks, regardless of vaccination status and intermingling of groups.
- We will still require masks for high transmission activities outdoors such as making lunches and setting tables for meals.
- We will require masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status. Indoor experiences are minimal at camp, like going into the Birdhouse to get daily medications, carpooling to offsite activities, or riding the bus.
- We support and encourage anyone who feels more comfortable wearing a mask more often to continue to do so.
Coming Down Sick
- To prevent the spread of COVID-19, we will have a strict illness policy at camp. Sick staff and campers will be sent home. Our camp nurses will follow CDC guidelines and use clinical judgement to decide who is sick and needs to be sent home from camp.
- We will be in contact with the local health department, as necessary, to stay in continued compliance in relation to all health and safety matters.
Meal Times
- All units will eat meals at the same time on the Dining Deck instead of staggering meal times. Units will still eat together as a cohort--no intermingling at meals.
Weather
- Campers will continue to sleep outside in nests, head to toe, as normal.
- Staff will continue to sleep within earshot of campers. They may sleep outdoors or in a personal tent, as usual.
- In cases of inclement weather, campers will move into their unit house or platform tents and we’ll keep doors and windows open if possible.
All-Camp Gatherings
- We will not require masks for all-camp gatherings outdoors where units remain in cohorts. This may include daily flag ceremonies, campfires, Wishboat, and other large all-camp gatherings.
Other protocols we’ll continue:
- Require all campers and staff to use hand sanitizer before every meal.
- Bleach bathrooms daily.
- Bleach all dishes after they're washed.
- Wear gloves when handling food or dealing with injuries.

Going Home from Camp
The CDC recommends you get tested within 72 hours of returning home and isolate for 7 days.

2020

In 2020, we worked closely with Girl Scouts of Northern California and our local health department to determine different scenarios that might occur at camp due to COVID-19. We prepared as if camp would run normally because some aspects of our camp require that we prepare well in advance while other aspects of our program and location provide us flexibility and time to see how things develop. We kept parents, campers, and staff informed as soon as we had definitive information. In the end, we needed to cancel camp for the health and safety of everyone involved at the guidance of the local health department. But we were prepared for several scenarios:
If Camp Continued As Normal in 2020
We were prepared to make the following alterations:

Health forms and fees were due June 15th instead of May 15th. If you attended camp in 2019, Girl Scout Council would allow us to use your 2019 health form for 2020 as it was difficult to get physicals scheduled and health forms signed.
We moved the In-Town Meeting for Fireflies, Trekkers, and Superpackers to virtual ZOOM meetings in April.
We moved New Staff Orientation to a virtual ZOOM meeting in May.
We prepared to provide Mandatory Staff Training 100% online instead of in-person.
We were prepared to institute the following new healthcare protocols to ensure everyone’s safety:
1. Temperature checks before boarding the bus to camp and before arriving on site. Anyone with a fever over 99.9 or with a cough wouldn't be allowed on the bus or on site.
2. Any camper or staff who fell ill during the camp session would be quarantined in our health center for 24 hours while arrangements were made for them to go home.
3. Temperature checks before each meal.
4. Units remaining together as cohorts/pods for all meals and activities.
We would continue the following protocols already in place which reduce the spread of germs at camp:
1. Everyone undergoes a health check with the camp nurse when they arrive at camp.
2. Sleeping outside, weather permitting.
3. Hand sanitizer before every meal.
4. Bathrooms bleached daily.
5. All dishes washed and bleached after every meal.
Staff certifications were extended another year by the American Red Cross.

If Camp Could Run in a Modified Way in 2020
We considered the following possibilities for modified camp schedule:

We might not be able to run all 3 sessions.
We might propose shortening all 3 sessions to 5-6 days long so we can start camp later in the summer if it seems like an all-clear is coming soon. A proposed schedule we considered:
- July 22: Staff, Fireflies, Superpackers arrive for Session 1. Fireflies and Superpackers leave on the trail.
- July 24: All other Session 1 campers arrive.
- July 29: All Session 1 campers and staff go home. Session 2 Staff and Fireflies arrive. Fireflies leave on the trail.
- July 30: All other Session 2 campers arrive.
- August 3: All Session 2 campers and staff and Superpackers go home. Session 3 Staff and Fireflies arrive. Fireflies leave on the trail.
- August 4: All other Session 3 campers arrive.
- August 8: All Session 3 Staff and campers and Trekkers go home.

If Camp Couldn't Run At All in 2020
If we had to cancel camp for everyone, we would refund ALL fees including deposits, no matter how late we had to cancel.
This is ultimately what we ended up needing to do in 2020. We have campers an opportunity to donate some of their paid fees to help cover our Ultracamp costs and fund site maintenance projects we worked on during the summer instead.