Ontario summer camps sharing measles protocols as kids get set to head off

Lindsay Biscaia has more on the response to the protocols put in place to prevent an outbreak of measles at summer camps.

As many kids prepare to head off to summer activities, summer camps are sharing their plans to keep kids safe amid a measles outbreak in the province.

Ontario has been grappling with an outbreak of the highly contagious illness since October. According to the latest data from Public Health Ontario, there have been more than 2,100 cases so far.

Measles is a highly contagious disease that can cause serious illness and even death in some children. Most of those who have contracted the illness in the latest outbreak have been unvaccinated, public health officials have said.

Most of the cases have been in Southwestern Ontario. Waterloo Region recently told CTV news that protocols for its summer camps this season include isolating unvaccinated campers or staff for 21 days if there is an exposure, or until they can prove they’ve had two doses of a vaccine.

Howie Grossinger co-owns two Ontario summer camps -- Camp Robin Hood in Markham and Camp Walden in Palmer Rapids.

Speaking with CP24 Friday, Grossinger said that his camps have been heeding public health guidance and working to educate campers and staff.

“We’ve really educated our entire camp community about the expectations of being fully vaccinated, (and) the implications for campers and staff, should they not be fully vaccinated,” Grossinger said.

He said the camp has been collecting vaccination records from those who will be attending camp this summer so that they are able to quickly work with public health officials to minimize spread in case there is an exposure.

While campers are not required to be vaccinated in order to attend camp, they would have to go home if there were an exposure, as per public health guidance.

“The response has been great. Parents have been sharing our vigilance on this,” Grossinger said. “Safety and risk management are of the utmost importance, and we also are educating or re-educating families, given our COVID experience, to the signs of illness; flu-like, symptoms, rashes, etc.”

He said health staff at camp are also receiving training about how to be vigilant for signs of the measles, and staff will be communicating with campers regularly to quickly detect if anyone is feeling unwell.

“At the end of the day, we want the experience of camp – the fun, the education and really the lifelong skills that happen at camp – to be the priority, while always maintaining vigilance on all the health and safety stuff that I know parents and us as operators are so concerned with.”

In a statement to CTV News Toronto, Toronto Public Health (TPH) said they will work with summer camps to provide “proactive guidance on preparing for potential measles exposures and minimizing disruptions to the camp experience.”

TPH says as of June 20, there have been eight laboratory-confirmed cases of measles reported in Toronto so far this year.