This year, the department is referring camps to CDC guidance, which is similar to the guidance for K-12 schools.Д¬amp Siloam is seeing a record number of campers this year and may exceed 6,000 kids by the end of the summer, according to director Jason Wilkie. The department did offer guidance and recommendations in 2021, she said. In Arkansas, there have been no restrictions or directives on camps since the end of summer 2020, according to Danyelle McNeill, public health officer for the Arkansas Department of Health.

Only seven state authorities are providing day camp guidance and 10 are providing overnight guidance this year, he said. All 50 states allowed day and overnight camps last year. The association worked with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to fine-tune the guidance in 2021, Rosenberg said. Each state is responsible for making public health decisions and not every state allowed camps to operate in 2020, he said. When the pandemic hit, the association hired an environmental health consulting firm and created an expert panel to develop a guide for camps to mitigate transmission of the virus, Rosenberg said. Before the pandemic, those camps served an estimated 26 million children and employed 1.2 million seasonal staff members each year, he said. The nonprofit association provides support for more than 15,000 day and overnight camps nationwide. As a result, 19.5 million children were unable to go to camp, 900,000 seasonal jobs were lost and the industry took a $16 billion hit, he said. When covid-19 hit in 2020, 82% of overnight camps and 40% of day camps across the country were unable to operate, according to Tom Rosenberg, president and CEO of the American Camp Association. It has about 400 seasonal staff members and 55 year-round employees, she said.

The camp expects about 6,000 campers in overnight and day camps this year, she said, compared to the 7,025 kids it hosted in 2019. The camp still hasn't returned to pre-pandemic numbers of campers yet, which allows for smaller groups as administrators evaluate covid levels in the community, Seaton said.

This year, most of the covid restrictions are lifted, and the requirements that remain are part of health and safety safeguards that are in place every summer, Seaton said. The spike in the delta variant midsummer required some modifications with staff members, but the camper experience wasn't affected, she said. Summer 2021 offered a much more normal camper experience, including day camps, she said. The camp required a negative covid test prior to attendance and modified many aspects of its programming to keep campers in smaller groups who moved through activities together to minimize transmission of covid-19, she said. The pandemic brought about some beneficial changes such as more efficient check-in procedures, the use of technology for enrollment forms and enhanced handwashing and sanitation protocols that help prevent the spread of all communicable diseases.Д¬amp War Eagle closed its day camps throughout Northwest Arkansas in 2020 and operated overnight camps on Beaver Lake at a drastically limited capacity, according to Leslie Seaton, operating director. Kids in Northwest Arkansas and across the country are returning to both day and overnight camps this summer that are starting to look more like they did before the pandemic.Д¬amps are offering more activities and serving more kids than in the past two years but are still facing challenges such as finding staff in a tight labor market, supply chain issues and inflation, camp directors said.

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