A popular summer camp in the Key Peninsula was shut down Thursday for the first time in its long history, after nearly 80 campers and staff members were suddenly stricken with the dreaded symptoms of norovirus.
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While she packed her bags, 9-year-old camper KD Hernandez told KIRO 7 campers at Camp Seymour were getting sick all around her Wednesday night.
“It was fun for the first few days, then it started with one person getting sick and it spread on to the whole camp,” she said.
YMCA staff members quickly decided to shut the camp down for the week, when 66 campers—all children -- and thirteen staff members became very ill, with bouts of vomiting and diarrhea.
“I got sick yesterday,” said 12-year-old camper Logan Hope. “This camp is awesome, but the sick part, that was not fun,’’ he said.
The Tacoma/Pierce County Health Department was notified, and staffers agreed to call parents immediately. Parents were called, and more than 100 overnight campers were told to pack up, to clear the camp for a cleaning crew. On Friday, the crew is expected to swab every surface of the camp with bleach.
“Every surface, every handrail, every doorknob, anything you can touch, floors, every surface is getting sanitized,” said Renee Quinn of the YMCA, which owns the camp. “This is a decision we had to make quickly, to make sure we contain this problem,” she said.
The Tacoma/Pierce County Health department told KIRO 7 they will run tests to make sure the illness is norovirus.
“We believe this started when one child came to camp infected with the virus,” said the department’s community relations manager Edie Jeffers. “Keep your kids home when they are sick,” she said, adding “But the tricky thing about norovirus is sometimes people can be infected with it, and not even know it.”
The camp is expected to be given the all clear to re-open for campers on Sunday.
KIRO
