Trick or Treat, Stay Six Feet — Halloween with COVID-19

Halloween — a holiday filled with ghosts, goblins, candy and plenty of spooks to go around. Normally, kids would be embracing the rush of dressing up and running around the neighborhood, collecting candy in their overflowing pillowcases with all of their friends by their side. Not this year. It’s safe to say that handing out candy, running around the neighborhood collecting it or going to a fun Halloween party with your friends will look a little different this year, to say the least.

With COVID-19 still taking over our everyday lives, the carefree Halloween traditions now come with more serious thoughts of new dangers that go along with participating in these activities. 

With the risk of contracting the virus being a definite fear this year, the CDC has released a list of tips on their website to ensure that people reduce the risk of infection while still participating in the hijinks of Halloween.

If trick-or-treating sounds less than appealing, sitting down and carving pumpkins with the family would be a perfectly safe replacement for a night normally filled with walking from door to door asking for candy. On top of that, watching scary movies as a family, organizing a virtual costume contest with friends, decorating the inside/outside of the house or even having an at-home-style Halloween scavenger hunt are all low risk activities that could replace the average Halloween repertoire.

For those who still need their annual fix of trick-or-treating or booing houses, the CDC has given plenty of recommendations for trick-or-treaters or those who are providing the candy to costumed kids.

If you’re planning to continue handing out candy, an alternative would be a one-way trick-or-treating method. If you wash your hands and prepare rows of wrapped goodie bags for families to collect, the issue of infection via interaction with people at your doorstep evaporates. 

Families can also stay at the foot of their driveway or yard to safely social distance while people come up to gather their treats one-by-one. 

The CDC also has emphasized that a costume mask is not a replacement for a cloth or surgical mask. If within six to ten feet of other people while trick-or-treating, it’s advised to wear either a protective mask with your costume or a mask that’s made of at least two or more breathable pieces of fabric — especially if you’re planning on being less than six feet apart.

For those who prefer the haunted attractions over trick-or-treating, the CDC has another solution. If possible, find an attraction that is based outside in the woods or an open air environment, where social distancing is easier to achieve and the risk of infection is decreased. For example, in Bonner Springs there’s the Exiled Trail of Terror — an open-air attraction that consists of a mile-long hike filled with freaks and monsters of all sorts. 

If you’re still planning on participating in any activities such as crowded parties, enclosed haunted houses or trick-or-treating face-to-face, the CDC recommends that protection procedures be practiced to ensure some form of safety. That includes wearing a mask, washing your hands and doing your best to maintain a six-foot-distance.