Yes. We want to reduce the risk of someone bringing COVID into camp as much as possible. Testing is a key factor in helping us do that. Our goal is to coordinate your COVID test for the same day you drop your bags off, which will be around 72 hours before you leave for camp.

Everyone at camp will need to get at least one more test after they arrive in order to ensure that everyone at camp is healthy. The information about when and how to best test for COVID-19 is always changing. Closer to camp, we will make a decision based on the most up-to-date information on when, how many and what type of tests are needed.

We want to do everything we can to reduce the chances of COVID-19 entering camp. That’s why we’re asking everyone to limit their interactions to people in their household and class(es) at school for at least the week leading up to camp. Staying at home during this time gives us the best chance of getting everyone safely to camp and keeping everyone healthy in camp. If you are travelling to camp from another country (USA, Israel), you will have to follow the Canadian government’s rules for testing and quarantining. Click here for more information.

For 14 days before the buses leave for camp, you will need to monitor yourself for COVID-19 symptoms (you’re probably very used to doing this for school already!). If you start experiencing symptoms or if you’re exposed to COVID-19, you’ll need to be assessed for COVID-19 and let us know. If you test positive for COVID-19 before camp or if you’ve been told to isolate/quarantine because you were exposed, you will not be able to leave for camp on our official departure day. Our health care team will work with your family and Public Health to determine a time for you to come up to camp once it is safe for you to do so.

Having cohorts ensures that if someone in camp does have COVID-19, we can minimize how many people are exposed. Public health will tell us how big our cohorts can be. If Public Health allows, we’ll be travelling to camp on school buses in our cohorts. During the first two weeks of camp, cohorts will eat all meals and do all activities together. After two weeks, if there are no positive cases of COVID-19 and if Public Health guidelines allow, we will increase the size of our cohorts.

Yes! Our philosophy at camp is to be “2 of 3”: outdoors, socially distant and/or masked. Campers will be able to hang out with campers in other cohorts as long as they are following the 2 of 3 rule. For certain camp-wide activities like cheering and singing, which are considered higher risk for transmitting COVID-19, we’ll insist on being 3 of 3 for safety. Campers will not be allowed to go into a tent that is not their own as it is too small a space to allow for proper social distancing.

You will not have to wear a mask when you are in your own tent, when you are doing activities with your cohort and when you are eating. You will have to wear a mask when you’re using shared indoor spaces like the Chadar (dining hall), the washrooms (not when you’re showering) or the Health Centre. You’ll also have to wear a mask when social distancing with another cohort isn’t possible or when we’re doing activities like signing and cheering which are considered higher risk for passing COVID-19 to other people.

For the first two weeks of camp, you’ll be going to chugs with your cohort. For each chug period, your cohort will be assigned 1-2 chugs, so there will be an opportunity for you to choose. For example, your cohort may be at the waterfront and you’ll be able to choose between waterskiing and boating. For another chug, you may get to choose between basketball and fitness or arts and crafts and dance. If Public Health guidelines allow us to expand our cohort sizes after two weeks (with no positive COVID-19 cases), then you’ll be able to choose between 3-4 chugs each period (and so on).

Our creative staff are hard at work making sure that these programs can all run safely this summer. All of camp will be able to participate in these programs together: groups will be organized by cohort and each activity station will be organized so that groups are distanced and/or using their own supplies. We’ll still come together for Shabbat; each cohort will have their own area to sit on the chof (beach), and their own spot for shira (singing) and rikud (dancing) that’s safely distanced from other cohorts.

We know how much Solelimnicks love these programs and we’re committed to bringing them to life this summer. Some elements of these programs will have to change to make them safe to run (and we will only know what these things are once Public Health tells us what guidelines to follow), but we are confident that we can make them just as amazing (if not more) than they were in the past. One of the great things about being forced to rethink the way we do things is that we often come up with better ideas we never had thought of before!

We certainly hope not! Public Health will tell us what we are allowed to do when it comes to close contact sports and we will need to follow the guidelines that they provide us.

Research shows that being outdoors helps reduce the spread of COVID-19, so we will try to have as many meals and activities take place outside as possible. We’ve created two outdoor dining spaces and purchased several new covered pavilions to help create more outdoor programming spaces. Keeping our hands clean is also an important factor in preventing virus spread, so we’ve added hand sanitizing/cleaning stations to every tent, building and activity area around camp. Just like at home and at school, sanitizing/washing hands at meals and activities will become an important part of our daily routine at camp. We’re also expanding our Health Centre to have several “zones” – one for medication distribution, one for injuries, and another for assessing people who aren’t feeling well.

A big part of keeping our camp community safe this summer is controlling the number of people “outside our bubble” coming in and out of camp. The only people who will be allowed to enter camp are the people who are needed to keep camp running: they will follow strict rules and need to be masked and distanced from our campers and staff at all times. Maintaining a bubble means that we will most likely not be able to host Visitors' Day in person at camp this summer. We are thinking of creative ways to adapt Visitors’ Day to our new reality and we will give you an opportunity to communicate with your family.

Anyone who isn’t feeling well will go to the Health Centre to be assessed. The nurse will assess you and determine next steps. If needed, we will schedule a virtual doctor appointment (or, if we’re told to, we will take you to be seen in person). You may be told you need to take a COVID-19 test. While you wait for the results, you will stay in our isolation zone where our health care staff will take good care of you. We will call your family and let them know.

If your COVID-19 test comes back positive, we will notify Public Health and follow their instructions. We will call your family and work with them and Public Health to determine next steps. Unless Public Health tells us otherwise, your family will most likely have to take you home to recover. If this is the case, we will work with Public Health and your family to determine when you can safely come back to camp.

If someone in your tent/cohort tests positive for COVID-19, we will work with Public Health to determine next steps. These next steps could include contact tracing, symptom monitoring, testing, isolating/quarantining the tent/cohort, etc. No matter what, your family will be notified about the situation and what steps we have been advised to take.