Camp Ozark, a summer camp near Mount Ida that each year hosts thousands of youths aged 7-17, has decided to voluntarily close after campers and counselors tested positive for COVID-19, Dr. Nate Smith, secretary of the Arkansas Department of Health, said Wednesday.
Smith, speaking at Gov. Asa Hutchinson's daily COVID-19 press briefing in Little Rock, said Camp Ozark officials shared the information that they had out-of-state campers and a counselor test positive.
"They took action. They initially sent campers home and some counselors home, and then as they had additional cases, they made the decision on their own to go ahead and close down for now," Smith said.
"We support that decision, and we appreciate them partnering with us, and we'll continue to work with them in whatever way needed," Smith said.
The Sentinel-Record made several attempts to contact camp directors, but they had not responded by presstime Wednesday.
"We also will do the same for other summer camps ... if they have issues of a similar nature, if they have campers or counselors who are diagnosed with COVID-19, and happy to work with them to make those environments as safe as possible, but also help make those decisions when it's time to go ahead and shut down operations, at least for a time," Smith said.
According to the camp's website, each year it hosts more than 7,000 youths on the 400-acre camp adjacent to the Ouachita National Forest.
The website, in an area titled "Protecting Your Family's Health," includes a statement from Sam Torn, who owns the camp with his wife, Susan, an RN who is also the camp's health director, stating that Camp Ozark was taking "extraordinary measures to protect every camper's health, well-being, and of course, safety."
"The Camp Preparedness Plan was developed to help ensure the health and safety of campers, the local community, and our staff. We developed our plan in consultation with infectious disease specialists, medical experts, and the Camp Ozark medical team. Our plan is built on years of experience dealing with the prevention and elimination of communicable disease spread in the camp environment. Lastly, our plan is adaptable. We continue to evaluate best-practices and make adjustments according to the latest available medical information," Dr. Secily Torn, the camp's medical director, said on the website.