Some wealthy New York parents who’ve struggled with home-schooling their children are now desperately praying camp will be open this summer.
We’re told a number of camps are being inundated with requests about accepting kids this summer so their parents can get a break. One NYC society insider currently sheltering in the Hamptons said, “There is a huge uproar over summer camps. Many camps are hoping to open, and the parents want to offload their kids no matter what. They don’t want their summer ruined.”
But with one caveat, the source added: “They don’t want foreign camp counselors who may bring the virus with them.”
The American Camp Association has told parents it is working with the CDC and other federal agencies on health and safety procedures. All kids and staff would be tested in advance, and camp staff would have to arrive 14 days prior to the kids and would likely not be permitted to leave the premises for the entire season.
Ron Hall, executive director of Maine Summer Camps, told the Portland Press Herald that most of the state’s 175 camps “are still optimistic they will open in some fashion this summer,” but operators were stuck waiting for guidance from state and federal officials.
But they are preparing: During the swine flu epidemic, Hall said, some had to set up tents to quarantine sick campers, but “it was nothing compared to this.”