Day Camp – Confirmation of a case of COVID-19 and closure of a site

Gatineau, August 8, 2020. – Ville de Gatineau and the Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux de l'Outaouais (CISSSO) have confirmed that one person attending the day camp at école du Vieux-Verger tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday, August 7, 2020. In addition, one adult at the same site is deemed to present a high risk. Thus, Gatineau has decided to place all of the camp counselors from that site in preventive isolation, and to shut down the école du Vieux-Verger site to avoid an outbreak.

Quick facts

●	The person declared positive attended the Ville de Gatineau day camp at école du Vieux-Verger on August 3 and 4.

●	The adult, who was only determined to be a high risk on August 7, had worked the entire week of August 3 until August 7, upon receiving the positive test result.

●	As soon as Gatineau was informed, it started working closely with the Direction de santé publique de l'Outaouais, and implemented the latter's recommendations as well as the prescribed sanitary measures.

●	The epidemiological investigation conducted by the Direction de santé publique de l'Outaouais indicates that the children and staff at this site presented different risk levels.

●	As instructed by the Direction de santé publique de l'Outaouais, Gatineau contacted all of the parents of the children attending that day camp to inform them of the situation.

●	Gatineau also contacted the day camp employees to inform them of their preventive isolation and the resulting site closure.

●	The Direction de santé publique recommends that parents and staff be on the lookout for the appearance of symptoms between now and August 18. In order to comply with the requirements of Santé publique, parents of children or employees exhibiting symptoms should call 819-644-4545 or 1-877-644-4545.

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Since the day camps opened on July 6, Gatineau has introduced a series of measures to ensure that the sanitary and physical distancing measures were followed, as a means to reduce the risks of propagation. - Among other things, the day camp sites are disinfected at least three times a day. These measures were applied daily at the école du Vieux-Verger site. - Gatineau has been working in collaboration with the school boards to adapt the janitorial procedures to the instructions received from Santé publique at the sites used by the day camps. An additional 34 casual positions were filled to support the teams applying sanitary measures. - Gatineau day camp counselors have all undergone mandatory training given by the Association des camps du Québec (ACQ) in connection with the pandemic. Gatineau added training on hygiene measures and on guidance, intervention and facilitation techniques related to COVID-19. - Employees and the children's parents fill out a questionnaire every day to assess their health. - Groups are isolated and most activities take place outdoors.

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