COVID Testing post arrival

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  • #42426
    Laura Gill
    Participant

    Hello,
    With the new NJ Camping guidelines put out for residential camps for the testing of unvaccinated individuals between days 3-6, I was wondering if anyone in NJ had any good recommendations for a on site clinic to come test the participants or can we use the self test kits where the parent would provide the medical staff with the sealed kit to use, or if the camp should provide the test kits? I work for a Non Profit Organization as the Health Officer for the Summer camp and I know that the tests kits are at least $100 each. and having 4 weeks of camp with new campers each week would be a huge Financial burden with participants ranging from 100-250 a week. any suggestions would be appreciated.

    #42430
    Susan Schwartzman
    Participant

    We are having a company called Genetworx help us with opening day testing. After opening day, when they are doing to help us swab, they will leave us the materials needed to swab/screen on subsequent screening days. The tests are less than $100 even with their assistance swabbing. We will drive the swabs to their lab.
    You could charge a fee for testing to cover the costs.

    #42437

    Laura:

    These are some of the most common questions we are getting right now and we understand the need to figure out a testing cadence for your camp. There are different reasons one would test – screening, diagnostic, and mitigation testing. I assume when you say have an “onsite clinic” I assume you mean for diagnostic testing (for someone who presents with illness symptoms). There would be no reason to re-screen campers who are just staying with you for a week.

    The CDC recommendation is screening testing 1-3 days before camp arrival (some states have extended this time due to concerns regarding getting results). You do not need to retest on arrival as that would be too soon following the first screening test and there is no good reason to rescreen that early.

    Therefore if you are looking for testing options for diagnostic reasons, you could just have some test kits onsite available for individuals. You should not need one for every camper. A PCR test is still gold standard but you could use a less expensive antigen test. The key is if the antigen test is negative on someone who is having illness symptoms, you need to retest them in 24-36 hours to confirm the accuracy of that test result. Retesting with a PCR is ideal, but could use a second antigen if that is what you can afford. Some camps have decided to just take their campers to an urgent care center if they develop symptoms for testing. There are many different options.

    Best to you
    Tracey GAslin

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