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Churches, camps and several other Curry County programs planning activities for kids are still working on how to do that safely during the COVID-19 pandemic.

But keeping on top of restrictions and guidelines that change on a daily basis is one of the largest hurdles they’re running into, said Summer Matteson, Curry County’s economic development coordinator.

Matteson and Curry County Operations Director Julie Schmelzer joined a webinar hosted by the Wild Rivers Community Foundation on Thursday. They urged providers of youth activities to follow guidelines set down by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention when planning gatherings.

“With the changes on a daily basis, it makes it more difficult to plan long-term in processing and redirecting that feeling of fear and panic to a mode of awareness and preparation,” Matteson said. “That’s something we should take a look at as we acclimate to changes, restrictions and guidelines on a daily basis. It is the emotional and mental impact on our youth I’m concerned about and how it is going to steer their response to future programs.”

Matteson and Schmelzer fielded questions from Mendy Hayne, family life pastor at the Brookings Church of the Nazarene; Karlie Wright, program director for the ASCEND After School Program with the Curry Public Library and Central Curry School District; and Brian Carlson, who is coaching girl’s soccer at Azalea Park in Brookings.

Curry County is in Oregon’s Phase 2 stage of reopening, according to Schmelzer. This means that as long as it meets pre-requisites identified by the state, such as a decline in the prevalence of COVID-19, safety restrictions governing recreational sports; pools; venues like movie theaters, bowling alleys and arcades can resume.

Under Phase 2, bars and restaurants can stay open until midnight and social, civic and faith-based gatherings can meet in “larger physically distanced groups,” according to Oregon’s guidelines.

Curry County currently has one active COVID-19 case, according to its Office of Emergency Management. Seven people have recovered and 730 tests have been completed in Curry County as of July 3.

Since the region is so dependent upon tourism, Matteson said, a majority of the county’s positive COVID-19 cases came from outside the community. Like Del Norte County, Curry’s geographic isolation and rural nature shields it from the more devastating impacts larger cities feel from the novel coronavirus, she said.

Though Curry County doesn’t require providers of youth programs submit a plan for keeping their youngsters safe during the pandemic, Schmelzer said the state does. Based on a letter Oregon Governor Kate Brown released last month, providers of youth activities must have a communicable disease plan on file.
This includes laying out ensuring they have contact information for a child’s guardian and determining who they would contact in case a youngster does get sick, Schmelzer said.

Brookings Church of the Nazarene is holding a kids’ camp similar to vacation bible school that’s focusing on sports, Hayne said. The church is also holding theater and STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) activities for their youngsters, she said.
Kids can choose what activity they want to participate in and must stay in those “huddle groups,” Hayne said.

“Right now we don’t have a group larger than eight in one group, and that’s their stable group,” she said. “They stay in that group with their leader…. Normally programming would be 3-4 hours, we’ve taken it down to an hour and a half.”

The church’s youth programs will be held from 6 p.m.-7:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

For its sports program, Hayne said, the church will be focused on drills rather than basketball, soccer or other contact sports. It has purchased extra equipment to discourage sharing and will deploy an obstacle course.

Its “Friday finale” will be a bike safety day, Hayne said.
Its STEM and theater programs will be held inside a room that can host 50 people, though it’ll be limited to about 20, Hayne said. There will also be a preschool for those parents who need child care while volunteering during the event, she said.

“I do have a medical team that is volunteering,” Hayne said. “We have a nurse coming a few days of the week and we have a doctor coming that is serving to do the temp checks for all of our volunteers and questionnaires as they come in. Then they’re also available for any injuries or anything that happens during camp time.”

The church has also implemented site plans, including specified entrances adn exits, Hayne said. There will also be an electronic system in place and color-coded wristbands for keeping track of the youth participating.

Carlson said his soccer team consists of about 14-15 girls each night and they play at Azalea Park roughly an hour each night.

“We’re all outdoors,” he said, adding that his son has been playing baseball since Curry County entered Phase 2. “Keeping equipment clean, I do that. I don’t let them share drinks and things like that. Other than that, I’ve been told that outside’s a good place to be.”

Wright said her guidelines are set down by the Oregon Department of Education, which includes having a staff member that ensures people are physically distancing themselves.

“We’ve been doing small group activities about once a week,” she said. “We’re doing them weekly through the first part of August. We are limiting our groups to 10 because if we have more than 10 stable groups, it gets to be more work than we can really do with just three staff. Everything’s done outside so we can all maintain our physical distance. Staff members are required to wear masks and students are not.”

When asked if providing youth programming during the summer will be something of a trial run for what school in Curry County is going to look like when it resumes in the fall, Wright, who sits on a committee for reopening schools, said the two are very different.

School districts are going to have to have a protocol in place for ensuring students are physically distanced as well as the ability to contact trace in the event of an illness, Wright said. Those guidelines could also change, she said, though a plan must be submitted to the Oregon Department of Education by Aug. 15.

“I know our school district is working on trying to get a plan in place before that so parents are aware of what child care needs they may or may not (need) in the upcoming school year,” she said.

Schmelzer urged providers of youth activities to look to the Office of Emergency Management, Curry Public Health and the Travel Curry Coast. Though many of those resources are geared toward businesses, she said, but they may be helpful.

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