Non-pharmaceutical interventions and COVID-19 cases in US summer camps: results from an American Camp Association survey
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Abstract
Most camps remained closed during Summer 2020, due to concerns regarding child transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and limited information about the effectiveness of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) within child congregate settings.
Methods
We surveyed US camps about on-site operations, camper and staff demographics, COVID-19 cases among campers and staff, and NPI usage as related to pre-camp quarantine, facial coverings, physical distancing, cleaning and facility modifications. For all NPIs, save quarantine, responses were provided on a 5-point Likert scale format.
Results
Within 486 on-site camps, a range of NPIs were instituted, most often related to reduced camper interactions, staff face coverings, cleaning and hand hygiene. Camper facial coverings were less common, with campers always wearing masks at ~34% of the camps. Approximately 15% of camps reported 1+ confirmed COVID-19 case in either campers or staff, with three camps reporting a COVID-19 outbreak. In both single and multi-NPI analyses, the risk of COVID-19 cases was lowest when campers always wore facial coverings. Constant use of staff facial coverings and targeted physical distancing measures, but not pre-camp quarantine, also reduced COVID-19 risks.
Conclusions
We found constant facial coverings, especially for campers, and targeted physical distancing measures to reduce risks of SARS-CoV-2 transmission within summer camps. Our findings provide valuable insights for future operations of summer camps and other child congregate settings regarding the use of NPIs to reduce the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
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SciScore for 10.1101/2021.02.18.21250271: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Institutional Review Board Statement IRB: The study was approved by the institutional review board at Tufts University. Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Sex as a biological variable not detected. Table 2: Resources
No key resources detected.
Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).
Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:Our study has several limitations. First, our findings are based on aggregate data reported by camps, and as such, measures of NPI usage and COVID-19 cases …
SciScore for 10.1101/2021.02.18.21250271: (What is this?)
Please note, not all rigor criteria are appropriate for all manuscripts.
Table 1: Rigor
Institutional Review Board Statement IRB: The study was approved by the institutional review board at Tufts University. Randomization not detected. Blinding not detected. Power Analysis not detected. Sex as a biological variable not detected. Table 2: Resources
No key resources detected.
Results from OddPub: We did not detect open data. We also did not detect open code. Researchers are encouraged to share open data when possible (see Nature blog).
Results from LimitationRecognizer: We detected the following sentences addressing limitations in the study:Our study has several limitations. First, our findings are based on aggregate data reported by camps, and as such, measures of NPI usage and COVID-19 cases were not independently verified. As a result, COVID-19 cases were likely underestimated due to under-reporting and lack of detection of asymptomatic cases. It is also possible that NPI usage was underestimated or overestimated. Second, our findings may be affected by selection bias, resulting from the self-selection of camps voluntarily participating in our survey. Demographics of camps participating in the survey mirrored that of the overall camp population, suggesting that selection bias was minimal. Third, completion rates of several survey questions were below 75%, suggesting the potential for reporting bias in regards to what information they chose to report. These limitations are balanced by our substantial study strengths, including our nationwide cohort of day and overnight camps and the associated data documenting COVID-19 cases and the usage and adherence to numerous NPIs. These data allowed us to characterize COVID-19 risks to both campers and staff and to assess the effectiveness of NPIs, including facial coverings, physical distancing, quarantine, and cleaning measures. Our findings show rates of COVID-19 cases for campers and staff were relatively low – even in areas with high community COVID-19 rates – and further demonstrate the importance of strict face covering and targeted physical distancing measures to...
Results from TrialIdentifier: No clinical trial numbers were referenced.
Results from Barzooka: We did not find any issues relating to the usage of bar graphs.
Results from JetFighter: We did not find any issues relating to colormaps.
Results from rtransparent:- Thank you for including a conflict of interest statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
- Thank you for including a funding statement. Authors are encouraged to include this statement when submitting to a journal.
- No protocol registration statement was detected.
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