30th December 2021
The medical team of Camp Purple has been meeting regularly to continually assess concerns about the risk of one of our campers or volunteers developing symptoms of Covid while at camp. In late November, when we met to decide whether to proceed with Camp Purple, we thought we could minimise that impact with new rapid testing kits which we could use on-site, and, if necessary, temporary isolation of a possibly infected individual or individuals.
The medical committee had an emergency meeting yesterday in light of the recent news that the Omicron variant has been found in the community in Auckland.
In November, when we made the decision to proceed with camp, with several precautions in place, we thought the risks of contracting Covid while at camp would be extremely low.
However, with the advent of Omicron in the community, the medical team no longer thinks this is the case. If someone does contract Covid while at camp, not only the child, but all close contacts would need to be isolated for several days. In addition to the very obvious health concerns in our immunosuppressed population, it would be an extremely difficult situation, particularly for children and their families from out of town.
We discussed our concerns with the on-call medical officer of public health in Christchurch, who concurred that, given the presence of Omicron, the camp should be cancelled.
This has been a very, very difficult decision for us as we have spent a full year and countless hours in preparation for our eighth Camp Purple.
Every one of us is incredibly disappointed, as we know the campers and all those involved will be. Camp will, hopefully, proceed as normal in January 2023, when we should have a better sense of the risks to our campers.
We would like to let you know that your very generous donations will be applied to our next camp in January 2023.
Kind regards,
Belinda Brown
Chief Executive Officer, Crohn’s and Colitis New Zealand Charitable Trust.
