Dr. Arati Karnik, MD, a member of Urban Adventure Squad's Board of Directors, discusses our safety protocols and the importance of the outdoors in reducing COVID transmission.  

Urban Adventure Squad follows local and federal guidelines for safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. We continue to adapt and revise our protocols as we follow the science and continue our year-round programming. 

OUR PRIORITY is to continue fully outdoor programs all year round, in every kind of weather, to ensure that children have enriching, joyful, learning opportunities. Our safety protocols and the safety of the outdoors has meant that we have had no occurrences of COVID in our programs. We take a conservative approach to going indoors during the pandemic and will do so only when we are not in a surge of infections, and for brief periods of time. We will revisit and revise this depending on the state of the virus, and will communicate this clearly to families. 

WHEN NOT TO SEND YOUR CHILD TO OUR PROGRAM
If your child has tested positive for COVID, they should not rejoin Squad programs for at least 10 days, until symptoms resolve, and they take at least one negative test. If symptoms included fever, they should be fever-free for at least 24 hours without fever-reducing medication. 

Do not send your child to a Squad program if they're experiencing any of the follow symptoms:
          Fever or chills
          Cough
          Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
          Fatigue
          Muscle or body aches
          Headache
          New loss of taste or smell
          Sore throat
          Congestion or runny nose
          Nausea or vomiting
          Diarrhea

Do not send your child if a household member has tested positive for COVID-19, is experiencing any of the symptoms listed above, or if they have been a close contact of someone who has recently tested positive for COVID-19. 

MASKS
MASKS ARE REQUIRED. Adults dropping off and picking up children must be masked. Children and educators are required to wear masks throughout the program. There are no exceptions. Children should wear their own masks to the programs. If they do not have one, if the mask does not fully cover their mouth and nose, or if the mask gets lost, then UAS will provide a new, disposable mask. Masks must fully cover the mouth and nose, and fit well to the contours of the face. Children who are unwilling or unable to keep their mask on will be dismissed from the program (parents/guardians will be contacted for immediate pickup). 
Children are allowed to take a "mask break" for a minute by stepping away (at least 6 ft) from the group. 

RATIOS
For each program, we are registering a total of 7-8 children per UAS educator. Children will be in separate groups of 7-8 children each, led by one UAS educator called a Squad leader.

These separate groups will remain within calling distance of each other--so that Squad leaders can support each other in case of an emergency, illness, or injury--but they will not interact as one large group.
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DISTANCING
During our fully outdoor programs, children are encouraged to space out comfortably and we make sure students are at a distance from each other when eating or drinking. 


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