Halloween safety tips during COVID-19

Traditionally, many children of all ages go door to door trick-or-treating on Halloween. This year, the recommendation is to avoid that activity and consider other ways to celebrate.

“The traditional Halloween celebration of trick-or-treating and going door to door unfortunately carries risk of transmission of COVID-19,” says Dr. Nipunie Rajapakse, a Mayo Clinic pediatric infectious diseases specialist. “This year, we are discouraging participating in any activities that significantly increase your risk of transmission or exposure to the infection.”

“We are discouraging any door to door trick-or-treating, even trunk-or-treat type activities. Those are really difficult to maintain physical distancing and therefore they carry risk of transmission of infection,” says Dr. Rajapakse. “They also involve the exchange of objects or candy which can also contribute to transmission of infection and we would encourage people not to take part in those types of activities this year.”

Along with discouraging trick-or-treating, Dr. Rajapakse says indoor Halloween parties also are not recommended because of the high risk of exposure or infection.

“We also are discouraging participating in indoor Halloween parties. We know that transmission of the virus occurs relatively easily, especially in indoor settings where people are in close contact with each other,” says Dr. Rajapakse. This means not meeting indoors with large groups of people is another way to reduce the risk of transmission.”

These recommendations don’t mean you have to cancel Halloween. There are low-risk options to consider, says Dr. Rajapakse.

Consider these options:

Carve pumpkins with members of your household.

Decorate your house, apartment or living space.

Have a virtual Halloween costume contest.

Have a Halloween movie night with your household members.

Have a scavenger hunt-style trick-or-treat search with your household members in or around your home rather than going door to door.

“Having activities outdoors instead of indoors is also another way to reduce the risk of transmission. But, unfortunately, there’s no way to reduce the risk to zero anytime you have people from different households interacting, especially given the amount of transmission we’re seeing in our communities still,” says Dr. Rajapakse.

If families participate in events with friends from different households, they should consider holding the event outdoors with plenty of open-air space and allow a safe distance of 6 feet apart.

Dr. Rajapakse encourages everyone to continue following social distancing guidelines, wear a cloth mask while in public and wash your hands with warm soap and water. “This holiday season is going to be like no other we have had before. We’re still in the midst of this pandemic. We are seeing rates of infection that are at their highest in some parts of the country than they have been, since we started all of this,” says Dr. Rajapakse.

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Information in this post was accurate at the time of its posting. Due to the fluid nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientific understanding along with guidelines and recommendations may have changed since the original publication date.

For more information and all your COVID-19 coverage, go to the Mayo Clinic News Network and mayoclinic.org.