◆ Experts say there are precautions you can take for a pandemic-safe Halloween experience.
Experts say precautions are required for a pandemic-safe holiday
It’s already been a hard year for kids. They lost time with friends and teachers at school, their summer vacations and their everyday routines to the coronavirus. With the arrival of fall, and cases rising fast among children, another scary specter raised its ugly head: Would they also have to give up Halloween?
The answer is a resounding “no,” according to experts, but parents and children should know that this year will look different from previous ones.
You do have to take precautions.
First, you should be aware that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned in guidelines updated last month that traditional trick-or-treating would be higher risk than other ways of celebrating the holiday.
The guidelines were somewhat unexpected, given that epidemiologists and other scientists generally consider it safe to gather outdoors with face coverings.
“Beyond doubt, this Halloween will be different than years past,” said Christopher Gindlesperger, senior vice president for public affairs and communications for the National Confectioners Association, a trade group for candy-makers. “But innovative approaches endorsed by the CDC like outdoor, one-way trick-or-treating can bring some fun to the month of October.”
What’s safe to do?
For the spookiest day of the year, the CDC listed activities in three categories: higher risk, moderate risk and lower risk. Pumpkin carving with members of the same household and virtual costume contests were classified as lower risk, while trick-or-treating door to door and attending a crowded indoor haunted house were listed as higher risk.
On the list of moderate risks was “trick-ortreating where individually wrapped goody bags are lined up for families to grab and go while continuing to social distance.”
Dr. Tista Ghosh, an epidemiologist and senior medical director at Grand Rounds, a digital health care company in San Francisco, said she was not surprised to see the CDC take what she called a “middle-of-the-road” approach for the guidelines, which appear to balance science with personal freedom.
Ghosh, the former chief medical officer for the state of Colorado, said the concern with trick-or-treating stemmed from its inherent face-to-face interaction. But, she said, “there are ways to participate in Halloween that could minimize risks.”
According to Ghosh, some strategies for safer trick-or-treating include leaving baskets of candy outside your home; having kids wear gloves and carry hand sanitizer; and keeping parties and other gatherings outdoors and socially distanced. You could set out pool noodles or other markers so children have visual markers for the prescribed 6 feet of distance, she suggested.
And while you don’t need to sanitize each and every candy wrapper, you should make sure your hands are clean before eating any sweets, Ghosh said.
At the very least, she stressed the importance of ventilation — opening windows and doors — if you do have people visit your home.
Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, said a small group — 10 or fewer people — could have a costume show or other outdoor gathering with masks and social distancing of at least 6 feet.
What isn’t safe?
Officials looking to prevent a public health disaster are asking that people beware of indoor activities and large groups of people as fall holidays, including Halloween, get underway.
Crowded indoor parties and haunted houses “where people may be crowded together and screaming” are on the higher-risk end of the spectrum alongside traditional trick-or-treating, according to the CDC.
The agency also lists traveling to rural fall festivals (think harvest festivals) if you’re coming from an area with high COVID-19 rates as “higher risk.”
Glatter agreed with that advice and took it a step further: He recommended against attending Halloween parties outside your community.
“Even though a mask and distancing mitigate risk, such events can generate superspreaders, placing even more people and families with older persons at risk,” he said.
Both the CDC and Glatter consider drinking alcohol a higher-risk activity, as it can cloud your judgment and “increase risky behaviors.”
‘Normalcy’ in a not-so-normal time
It’s important to remember that these spooky festivities mean a lot to kids, Ghosh said.
“I think completely taking away Halloween could be detrimental to some of the mental health issues that kids are facing right now,” Ghosh said. She added that she always cautions people to “balance the risk of whatever activity they’re doing with mental health risks as well and look for ways to minimize risk rather than reduce risk to zero because that’s just not possible.”
In September, the Halloween and Costume Association announced new tools to help people make decisions for the holiday, including a color-coded risk-level map that was provided by the Harvard Global Health Institute.
A parent with two children herself, Ghosh said her family was planning to wear gloves and costumes (which are crucial to the holiday experience) and were going to homes “that I know the owners of, where they will be placing candy outside.”
A Zoom Halloween party may also be in the works, and for her oldest, a 13-year-old, a possible backyard movie night — with everyone bringing their own food and chairs for socially distant seating.
“Holidays help us maintain our sense of rituals and ‘normalcy’ during a not-so-normal time,” Glatter said. “Whatever we can do to keep holiday celebrations and traditions at least partially intact — while remaining safe — serves as a guidepost or compass during these turbulent times.”