HALLOWEEN MASKED
For many, trick-or-treating is just too scary this year because of the coronavirus
Porch light on or porch light off? That's one serious question this Halloween night, considering the coronavirus.
Whether to take little ones door-to-door to people's homes is another one, with danger literally in the air — and on the ground now. The ice storm left downed trees and powerlines in streets and yards everywhere. Live wires may be dealt with by Saturday, but it takes weeks to clear away so many limbs creating pedestrian obstacle courses.
What to do is up to you, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warn:
“If you may have COVID-19 or you may have been exposed to someone with COVID-19, you should not participate in in-person Halloween festivities and should not give out candy to trick-or-treaters.”
Even if you're sure you've not been Richard Mize
exposed, the CDC advises hand washing and social distancing, of course, and avoiding direct contact with trick-or-treaters; giving out treats outdoors; setting up a station with individually bagged treats for kids to take. Also, wash your hands before bagging treats and after unwrapping candy to eat.
Since “mask” has a whole different meaning this Halloween, the CDC has some specific things to say about them: “Wear a mask. Make your cloth mask part of your costume. A costume mask is not a substitute for a cloth mask. Do NOT wear a costume mask over a cloth mask. It can make breathing more difficult.”
A protective mask and a costume mask serve different
Online: Go to oklahoman.com to view more photos of yards decorated for Halloween.
purposes, said Barbara Brown, OSU Extension food specialist.
“Wearing a costume mask on top of a health care face mask can be dangerous, decreasing the ability to breathe or see,” Brown said. “Instead, masks should be incorporated into costumes by using fabric paint, markers or embroidery as decoration.”
For more Halloween safety tips from the CDC, go here: https://tinyurl.com/CDCHalloween20.
So, what will you do? Here's what some of your neighbors plan to do, and not do, Halloween Night, (from interviews before the ice hit, so plans may have changed), along with some photos of spooky home scenes (also taken before the storm):
• “I won't be taking my daughter trickor-treating this year. I can't imagine a safe way to do it. Instead, we will probably get dressed up, grab a big bowl of candy and have a kidfriendly scary movie marathon. We might do it outside so her neighborhood friends can come hang out with us if the weather cooperates!” — Heather
Moore, mom of two girls in Edmond.
• “Casa Matzell is doing a `candy graveyard.' We are taping candy to bamboo skewers (100 in a pack) and placing them all over our very scary yard! Kids can take what they want with no doorbell-ringing involved. We love Halloween and hope some kids will stop by, but during this uniquely challenging year, we will modify our traditions a bit to keep everyone safe while still allowing kids to collect enough candy to ensure a sugar rush!” — Lynne Matzell, executive biopharmaceutical sales specialist at Amgen Inc.
• “We are doing the normal. Kids have already dealt with enough change. Lights on and passing out candy.” — Cheri Drinkard, agent with eXpRealty, 101 Park Ave., Suite 1300.
• “We have always loved Halloween. We decorated our home, dressed our dog and sat outside to enjoy all the kiddos. We are a 60-plus couple and simply are not willing to risk contracting the virus. We are both in commission sales and take the risk with each new client (while wearing masks, social distancing and sanitizing). Halloween is simply not worth the added risk. Light off and not answering.”
— Brenda Woodard, an agent with Whittington Realty, 26 SW 104.
• “There's an ... pandemic going on! My porch light will be out while I munch on popcorn and Snickers. WEAR A MASK.”
— Lisa Okeke, retired.
• “We are doing an outside event in our neighborhood using social distance measures and limiting the number of kids in the bounce houses.” — Jennifer Fields, a real estate agent with RE/MAX at Home, 3224 S Broadway, Suite 225, Edmond.
• “Our neighborhood decided together early on that we could safely participate in trickor-treating together by wearing masks and setting up tables in our driveways to hand out candy. We won't get to eat chili and hot dogs at the neighbors' house this year as in years past, but it will be wonderful to see everyone enjoying Halloween together — separately.” — Erin Yarbrough, director of marketing, Ideal Homes of Norman.
• “I look forward to trick-or-treaters every year and we were excited about Halloween in our new neighborhood, which is much busier than at our old house. Sadly, we won't be handing out candy this year. Distancing is too challenging in traditional trick-or-treating, and I don't want to be even a small part of encouraging or prolonging large gatherings. Plus, the state's COVID19 numbers are scary enough without extra ghouls and ghosts at my front door.” — Lindsay Thomas, director of public affairs, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation.
• “We are providing goodie bags of candy that will be spread in the yard by the curb for no-contact trick-or-treat. My daughter will be trick-or-treating at homes that take a similar approach. She will not be ringing doorbells and accepting candy in person.
“My mother loved Halloween. She always dressed up like a witch and could cackle perfectly. She put a speaker in the window playing spooky music to scare the kids. I remember kids being gently pushed by parents to venture up to our porch. Later Mom would recite `Little Orphant Annie' from memory. She would read it with perfect inflection and tone. She'd whisper in all the right places to build suspense. We take COVID very seriously. But we will be celebrating Halloween as safely as possible to remember my mom and make some more memories.” — Lori Key, data scientist, Paycom.
• “D.R. Horton welcomes trick-or-treaters at our model homes and will be open until at least 7 p.m. with candy to pass out.” — Brandon Brown, community sales manager for homebuilder D.R. Horton Inc.