Bringing home treats and fun – not Covid-19

SPOKANE COUNTY – Halloween is one of the more popular holiday’s of the year, partly because of all the variety of public events — from parties to haunted houses and the traditional trick-or-treat excursions about the neighborhood.

But in the year of coronavirus, this high-level of social interaction outside the household could also be recipe for spreading Covid-19, the lower respiratory disease associated with coronavirus that, according to the Johns Hopkins University Covid-19 Dashboard, has resulted in over 8.18 million infections and almost 220,000 deaths in the United States alone.

Recognizing people need some normalcy and escape from lockdown and safety measures imposed to prevent the spread of the virus, health officials have produced some alternatives along with guidance for taking part in traditional Halloween observances.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Washington Department of Health (DOH) both issued tips on Halloween safety, with the former classifying activities into low, medium and high risk categories while the latter organized them under “Recommended” and “Discouraged” columns. Both, along with the Spokane Regional Health Department, have posted the guidance on their websites.

Low risk or recommended activities include pumpkin carving or decorating, either online, with immediate family indoors or properly spaced outdoors with neighbors and friends. Decorating homes, hosting online costume contests, having a Halloween movie marathon with household members or arranging scavenger hunts are also suggested.

“Avoid that close contact with people not in your immediate family,” SRHD Health Officer Dr. Bob Lutz said. “Certainly, we’ve been spending time with close friends and you feel very comfortable with them, just keep people at a distance.”

Health officials acknowledge that traditional Halloween activities will take place, however, and have proposed several measures to help ensure people’s health and safety. If trick or treating, bring plenty of hand sanitizer and use frequently, wash your hands before and after, always wear a cloth face covering and keep grouped with members of your immediate household while staying six feet apart from non-members.

“We want people to feel safe, but don’t collect people as you’re going down the street with other family members,” Lutz said. “I see groups of 10, 15, 20 children with parents off in the distance, we want to discourage that.

Lutz said to avoid wearing both a cloth face covering with a traditional costume mask, and consider face painting as an alternative to the costume covering. When giving out treats, consider measures such as individually pre-wrapping treat bags or tossing treats into trick-or-treaters bags or buckets from a distance.

Treats can also be placed on tables at the end of driveways or walks and spaced appropriately to reduced crowding. To help with the latter, place a few mini pumpkins or other decorations six feet apart to create a line leading to the tables, and supervise the procedure by setting up a lawn chair a comfortable distance away — just to make sure nobody takes more than their fair share.

Lutz said to avoid anything that will lead individuals into crowded indoor situations such as parties or haunted houses. If you must hold these activities, do so outside, but if indoors, set them up – particularly haunted houses – so that the number of people inside is limited, the distance is maximized and the time spent together.

“Indoors with many people you don’t know for extended periods of time, that is an additive risk for you because again we know that significant percentage of people may have Covid-19 without symptoms,” Lutz said.

Lutz also discouraged events such as trunk-or-treats where treats are dispensed to groups of kinds from the trunks of vehicles.

“Yes, it’s outdoors, but again, we’re still looking at that spacing and that time spent around other people,” he said, adding to steer clear of anything that promotes gatherings of non-related individuals for extended periods of time.

“We know people are going to be out and about,” Lutz said of Halloween. “Just do it safely.”

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].