Preventing and Mitigating SARS-CoV-2 Transmission — Four Overnight Camps, Maine, June–August 2020

Abstract

On August 26, 2020, this report was posted as an MMWR Early Release on the MMWR website (https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr). The World Health Organization declared coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) a pandemic on March 11, 2020.* Shortly thereafter, closures of 124,000 U.S. public and private schools affected at least 55.1 million students through the end of the 2019-20 school year. † During the summer of 2020, approximately 82% of 8,947 U.S. overnight camps did not operate. § In Maine, only approximately 20% of 100 overnight camps opened. ¶ An overnight camp in Georgia recently reported SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, transmission among campers and staff members when nonpharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) were not strictly followed (1); however, NPIs have been successfully used to mitigate SARS-CoV-2 transmission among military basic trainees (2). During June-August 2020, four overnight camps in Maine implemented several NPIs to prevent and mitigate the transmission of SARS-CoV-2, including prearrival quarantine, pre-and postarrival testing and symptom screening, cohorting, use of face coverings, physical distancing, enhanced hygiene measures, cleaning and disinfecting, and maximal outdoor programming. During the camp sessions, testing and symptom screening enabled early and rapid identification and isolation of attendees with COVID-19. Among the 1,022 attendees (staff members and campers) from 41 states, one territory, and six international locations, 1,010 were tested before arrival; 12 attendees who had completed a period of isolation after receiving a diagnosis of COVID-19 2 months before arrival were not tested. Four (0.4%) asymptomatic attendees received positive SARS-CoV-2 test results before arrival; these persons delayed their arrival, completed 10 days of isolation at home, remained asymptomatic, and did not receive any further testing before arrival or for the duration of camp attendance. Approximately 1 week after camp arrival, all 1,006 attendees without a previous diagnosis of COVID-19 were tested, and three asymptomatic cases were identified. Following isolation of these persons and quarantine of their contacts, no secondary transmission of SARS-CoV-2 occurred. These findings can inform similar multilayered public health strategies to prevent and mitigate the introduction and transmission of SARS-CoV-2 among children, * https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-generals -openingremarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19-11-march-2020.

Preventing and Responding to COVID-19 on College Campuses

“…Although the situation is dynamic, a Davidson College initiative tracking data on nearly 3000 US colleges reports that as of September 9, 2020, about 4% of colleges are conducting fully in-person and 23% primarily inperson instruction, with the remaining using hybrid models or teaching primarily or fully online. 3 For colleges with some degree of in-person instruction, a variety of COVID-19 testing strategies in addition to symptom-based testing are being employed in an attempt to reduce transmission. These include (1) universal entry screening: testing all students before arrival on campus; (2) 2-phased universal screening: prearrival testing paired with a follow-up test, typically about 1 week after arrival; (3) scheduled screening, with repeated testing of the entire campus population (eg, weekly); (4) random screening, with testing a random sample of the campus population; (5) testing on-demand, by making tests available to students on campus on demand but not requiring testing; and (6) wastewater testing to detect virus in the sewage overall or for specific facilities (eg, residence halls).…”

Implementing Mitigation Strategies in Early Care and Education Settings for Prevention of SARS-CoV-2 Transmission — Eight States, September–October 2020

“…First, this qualitative descriptive analysis might not be generalizable beyond the participating Head Start programs; however, programs were geographically diverse and represented all four U.S. Census regions. Second, study outcomes could not be attributed to implemented mitigation strategies; however, these strategies and the merits of a multicomponent mitigation approach have been documented to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission ( 7 , 8 ). Additional evaluation is needed to understand how multicomponent mitigation strategies work in child care settings that remain open for in-person learning in areas with high community transmission.…”

Plant-Based Vaccines: The Way Ahead?

“…This was primarily a result of reliance on egg-based vaccine manufacturing systems with slow production speeds [ 58 ]. In theory, with proper communication, virus spread can be halted primarily through testing, isolation, and contact tracing of infected individuals followed by vaccinations pre-empting viral transmission to new areas [ 59 , 60 , 61 ]. These strategies were not put into practice for the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic which has caused massive shut downs in many parts of the world and provided the public with an opportunity to learn about the duration of clinical trials for a vaccine candidate.…”