Halloween 2020 – CDC’s Guide to Staying Safe Yet Spooky This Holiday

Let’s face it, 2020 has been one of the scariest and most unique years for everyone. With that, Halloween this year will also be much different than past years. Fortunately, the CDC has given us some guidelines to follow this year to help minimize the risk of spreading or contracting COVID-19 this year.

As you may have guessed, many of the traditional ways of celebrating this holiday are now considered a risk, as they now bring with them the possibility of spreading the coronavirus. The Center for Disease Control has released a new set of safety guidelines for those who still wish to go out and celebrate Halloween this year. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone: classic door-to-door trick-or-treating and crowded costume parties are not recommended. The CDC grouped Halloween activities into 3 categories of risk: low, moderate, and high-risk.

The high-risk category includes door-to-door trick-or-treating, as well as events where kids get candy from the trunks of cars in big parking lots. Also in this category are indoor haunted houses, going on hayrides with people who aren’t in your household, or other fall festivals in rural areas.

The moderate-risk category includes a different take on trick-or-treating. Kids could pick up individually wrapped gift bags at the end of a driveway or yard. Other activities include a small outdoor costume parade where everyone is 6 feet apart and wear masks, a haunted outdoor forest attraction, as well as apple and pumpkin picking, as long as people use hand sanitizer and wear masks.

Lastly, the low-risk category includes activities such as carving pumpkins with your household, or outdoors with friends socially distanced. They also suggest a Halloween scavenger hunt for treats in your own home or backyard. As far as masks go, a costume mask is not a good substitute for a cloth mask, unless it’s like a cloth mask, with two or more layers of breathable fabric covering the nose and mouth, without gaps around the face. Instead, opt for a Halloween-themed cloth mask.

To learn more about how to stay safe this Halloween, read the full article here: https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/09/22/915689646/cdcs-halloween-guidelines-warn-against-typical-trick-or-treating-boo

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