During 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has made us shift how he handle a lot of our regular activities. It may involve not getting together with friends and family, being respectful of social-distancing, and it certainly involves following the proper health and safety guidelines that are set out by our local and federal governments.
What hasn’t changed is our ability to have fun and show off our creativity, such as getting dressed up in your favorite costume or putting up Halloween decorations.
How do we navigate Halloween during a pandemic though? To help you we’ve taken some time to create and share this guide, which will help you make sure that you have a safe and fun Halloween.
Trick or Treating
- Don’t go trick-or-treating if feeling ill, even if symptoms are minor
- Minimize contact with others: trick-or-treat with your family or cohort, remain within your community, and stay 2 metres apart
- Wash hands and disinfect packages before eating candy
- Choose costumes that allow a non-medical mask to be worn underneath – make sure you can see and breathe comfortably
- Avoid touching doorbells or railings: call “trick or treat” from 2 metres away, knock instead of using doorbells, use hand sanitizer after touching surfaces
Handing out Candy
- Don’t hand out candy if feeling ill or isolating
- Ask trick-or-treaters to knock or call out instead of ringing the doorbell
- Wear a non-medical mask that fully covers your nose and mouth
- Use tongs to hand out pre-packaged candy to avoid handling treats
- Hand out treats from your driveway or front lawn, if weather permits
- Set up a table or desk to help keep yourself distanced
- Make candy bags and space them out on a table or blanket; don’t leave out self-serve bowls of bulk candy
- Build a candy slide, candy catapult or other fun, non-touch delivery methods
- Consider getting a poster to indicate if you’re or are not handing out candy this year. Many municipalities have created posters for Free, that you can put up in your front door or nearest window.
Lastly, before heading out for trick or treating please consult your local government’s website. There are some areas in the country that are labelled as hot zones which do not recommend trick or treating. Here is Ontario’s guide as an example.
