Tricks for a safe Halloween
Celebrating the spooky, sweet tradition while avoiding COVID-19
These are Halloween safety tips, pre-pandemic: Make sure your child’s costume is nonflammable. Don’t let them eat candy that’s not in its original wrapper. Take a flashlight when you go trick-or-treating.
All still true. But with COVID-19 lurking, safety takes on epic importance this year. Is it safe for kids to go trick-or treating? Is it safe to take candy from strangers during a pandemic? Is it safe to hand out candy? Is it safe to go to a party — indoors?
Can we do Halloween without getting COVID-19? This is a Halloween season full of uncertainty.
If you’ve been paying attention, you already know what to do. Avoid crowds, use good hand hygiene, stay away from big indoor parties and wear masks — the safety kind — even outdoors, in many cases.
You can keep many of your favorite Halloween traditions — but the coronavirus dictates caveats.
“It goes back to the basics,” said Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director of infection prevention and control for the University of Kansas Health System.
“The message should be wear a mask if you are going out in public, even if you’re going to be outdoors, especially if there are going to be people around you that are not in your bubble or your household, such as at the pumpkin patch or the haunted houses.”
“I don’t know what it will look like. But here’s what I hope Halloween will look like,” said Dr. Angela Myers, director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Mercy.
“I hope that as a community we all work really hard to wear a mask in public and stay out of mass gatherings and continue to be careful about decisions we make and the places we go so that we drive down our community rates, which are quite high right now.”
Trick-or-treating tricks
Since it happens outdoors — and if household members stick together, travel in as small a group as possible and distance themselves from others — it should be “very reasonable to do trick-or-treating” this year, said Hawkinson.
“Going to get the candy is probably not too much of a risk,” because the interaction is brief and “can certainly be done in a safer way than having parties or get-togethers indoors,” he said.
Doctors, though, are not keen on seeing packs of trick-or-treaters crowding sidewalks this year.
“When you’re walking around with your child, you don’t want to go in a big clump or a big group of people as sometimes happens,” said Myers.
Children should wear masks, even outdoors, she said. “Try to make that as fun as possible,” says Myers. “Think about being creative, letting your child pick their mask. Or if you don’t have one that goes with the costume, you could decorate one that would go with it.”
At home, designate one person — best to be an adult — to hand out the candy. Don’t leave the bowl out for kids to dig into.
“It is a good idea not having a bunch of kids’ hands in the candy bowl,” said Myers.
Trunk-or-treat safety
Trunk-or-treat events might require some forethought this year, said Myers. Parking cars at least eight to 10 feet apart could help eliminate the typical jams, said Hawkinson.
“Typically when I have seen trunk-or-treat there are a lot of people, so those lines do move slow,” he said.
Mask up, even outdoors
But, even at a place like a pumpkin farm where “you can probably be spaced pretty easily from other people,” Hawkinson said, “wearing a mask there would probably still be a very good idea.
“Doing those hayrides, you’ll probably be on the hayride or trailer with other people not in your household. Although you are outdoors, it’s probably still a good idea to be wearing a mask and again, separating as much as possible.”
The same advice goes for haunted houses, he said.
“Certainly waiting in line, although outdoors, with a bunch of other people around you is probably going to be more risky than if you were just able to walk in and go through the haunted house without having to wait,” he said.
“I haven’t been to any in a long time, but from what I remember you are still walking through fairly slowly. You are coming into contact with other people, you are moving into other people’s space fairly soon after they have walked through out of that area.”
Hand sanitizer
Halloween. Hand sanitizer. Use it.
“Do you need to do it after every household that you’re going trick-or-treating and getting candy from? Probably not,” said Hawkinson. “But if you want to do it several times that will be important.”
Halloween ‘parades’
People have perfected the concept of drive-by greetings during the pandemic. Teachers driving by their students’ homes. Family members delivering birthday greetings from the road. Now comes the idea of drive-by trick-or-treating: Kids in their costumes stand in front of their houses as people drive by and toss candy to them. Myers likes the idea.
“I think a community, a cul-de-sac or neighborhood parade is a great idea,” she said. “I think those are all good options for neighborhoods and communities.”
Indoor bashes
Risky. Dangerous. Those are the words infectious disease experts use to describe indoor parties. For one thing, you can’t stay socially distant in a crowded indoor space. Also, who wants to wear a mask when they’re eating and drinking? And alcohol can lower inhibitions and throw awareness of risk down the toilet.
Potlucks? No.
And just how many people will be at that party? Local governments might have COVID-19 rules limiting the size. Medical experts have their own thoughts on that.
“We certainly recommend and advocate for 10 people or less,” said Hawkinson.
Research events
Before you go to a Halloween event, consider the risks and whether you feel comfortable taking them, medical experts advise. And ask the event or party planner what COVID-19 safety measures will be in place, they say.
At a party, “we just may not always know who is sick,” said Hawkinson. “I know people who are sick who just say, ‘I don’t care. I’m going to go out and do what I want to do.’
“And that’s kind of the bottom line as far as gettogethers and parties, not only for Halloween but as we move into the colder winter months where people are going to be really forced to doing things inside.”