Health department offers tips for safe Halloween
Costume masks no substitute for protective face covering
Northeast Colorado Health Department
It is that time of year; it’s Halloween. Time for endless candy and tummy aches and faces covered in chocolate. This year Halloween is going to be a little different, but we still get to enjoy our traditions of Trick-or-treating.
It’s important to follow best practices to help prevent the virus from spreading. Wear a mask that fully covers your nose and mouth, wash your hands frequently, and maintain at least 6 feet of distance from people outside your household. In the rest of the ar ticle, you will find some guidance for doing
Halloween in our neck of the woods.
For Trick-or-treating it really comes down to just being smart and having adults accompany the little ones to get their candy. Stay with your household and try to avoid crowds of people you don’t normally mingle with. If you are having trick-or-treaters come to your house, have people come from one side of the house up to the door, and then out the other side so people are not walking past each other and being in close contact.
If you are wanting to have a gathering, make sure to limit it to 10 people from no more than two households. If you don’t want to be inside you can go to an openair, one-way, walk-through haunted forest, pumpkin patch, or corn maze. Make sure masks that cover the nose and mouth are
required and people can remain at least 6 feet apart. Another good idea is to have an outdoor movie night, grab a big screen or a white sheet, and watch a good Halloween movie if you’re brave enough to brave the cold — just don’t get hypothermia.
Lastly, do remember that a costume mask is not a substitute for a mask that protects against COVID-19. Wear non-costume masks when indoors with nonhousehold contacts and outdoors whenever 6 feet of distance cannot be maintained. If wearing a costume mask over a cloth mask makes it hard to breathe, consider a Halloweenthemed cloth mask as part of the costume instead.
We want everyone to remember that Halloween is a fun time and it should be enjoyed by everyone. Remember the big 3 and spread KINDNESS, not COVID.