No overnight summer camps in NY over virus concerns
Summer camp students crossing the street in East Broadway. (Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — New York state’s health commissioner on Friday said overnight summer camps will not be allowed to operate over coronavirus concerns.
Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said it would be too difficult to manage the risks in overnight camps and maintain practices like social distancing and mask wearing.
The state had previously said that summer day camps would be allowed to reopen on June 29 with regulations about capacity and health practices.
“Overnight camps have congregate settings and sleeping arrangements in close quarters that present too many risks," Zucker said in announcing the decision.
“In such a setting, even a single positive case in a camper or staff member could create an untenable quarantine situation and overwhelm camp health personnel that may not be able to handle a serious infectious outbreak of this nature," he said.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said 42 people had died from coronavirus on Thursday.