COVID-19 outbreaks: At least 3 vacation camps in Quebec are temporarily closing

At least three vacation camps in Quebec have temporarily closed due to COVID-19 outbreaks, according to the province’s camp association (ACQ).

There are currently nine infections at Camp Ouareau in Matawinie, in the Lanaudière region of Quebec.

About 150 campers were expected to be picked up on Tuesday, with the camp hoping to reopen by July 13.

Most infections are among staff, a spokesperson for Ouareau told CTV News.

Despite the outbreak, Dr. Earl Rubin, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, says there is a difference between summer camps and the general Montreal community when it comes to COVID-19 .

« In the holiday camps, they are all healthy young people. But more importantly, it is a closed environment where they do not go out and have contact with the elderly, the immunocompromised, the vulnerable population » , explained Dr. Rubin.

Having worked as a doctor at a summer camp for more than 30 years, Dr Rubin believes that such summer camps should not be closed if children catch a cold without serious symptoms, even without knowing if it is of COVID-19.

Nonetheless, Dr. Rubin performed PCR and antigen testing in the early stages of the pandemic to ensure the spread of COVID-19 was minimized among children in the camps.

The news comes as the number of COVID-19 cases is rising across the province.

On Tuesday, the Department of Health reported 20 additional deaths and 147 hospitalizations in just 24 hours.

This is a developing story.

With files from CTV’s Matt Gilmour.