Christian youth camp linked to dozens of new COVID-19 cases, Michigan official says

A Christian youth camp in Michigan is tied to 53 confirmed cases of COVID-19, health officials say.

An additional 13 probable cases are also linked to the camp, Steve Hall, a health officer with the Central Michigan District Health Department, told McClatchy News on Wednesday.

Of the confirmed and probable cases, 27 are campers, 27 are staff members or camp counselors, and 12 are secondary infections, Hall said.

“In terms of how many people were potentially exposed, there were over 230 campers between the two camps,” Hall told Michigan Live.

The camps, run by Springs Ministries in Gladwin, took place July 12-17 and July 19-23, the outlet reported.

In a statement posted to its website, Springs Ministries said it was informed July 22 that a camper had tested positive for COVID-19 after returning home.

According to Springs Ministries’ website, the organization had camps for several age groups scheduled into early August. After receiving news of the positive cases, Springs Ministries canceled the last two weeks of camps, the statement said.

The organization said it “followed our policies and that of our licensing agency from the State of Michigan which we stated at the beginning of the summer.” Those policies included fewer campers, fewer people in cabins, more outdoor meals and activities, daily fever checks for staff and fever checks for campers when they arrived and departed.

“We realize that Covid exposure could happen anywhere and at anytime. We are saddened that it happened here,” the statement said. “We are currently working directly with the local health department and are following their recommendations as we move forward.”

The health department sent an email to campers encouraging them to quarantine for 14 days from the time they left camp and keep close watch for symptoms including fever, chills, shortness of breath and loss of taste or smell, Michigan Live reported.

This story was originally published August 5, 2020 at 1:48 PM with the headline "Christian youth camp linked to dozens of new COVID-19 cases, Michigan official says."