Halloween during Covid: What changes?

Halloween+during+Covid%3A+What+changes%3F

Mackenzie Steinheimer, Reporter

With more and more houses being decked out with spooky decorations, there are questions going around that need to be answered. What can we still do for Halloween? What is safe? What should teens be allowed to do? Though these questions are all very important and real problems, Covid-19 does not have to interfere with everything about this beloved holiday.

The CDC released clear guidelines on what safe activities we can still participate in, and what we should reconsider taking part in this year. The CDC’s website has an entire section on Halloween, with boxes describing low, moderate, and high risk activities. Though the staple activities of Halloween, such as traditional Trick-Or-Treating, are a little too dangerous to hold this year, there are plenty of activities that are perfectly safe to do, such as carving or decorating pumpkins, costume parties held outdoors, and even one-way trick-or-treating where individually wrapped goodie bags are lined up.

Though teenagers are more inclined to want to go out to a party on Halloween, family-oriented activities can be just as fun. One UHS student said he was going to “stay home and watch horror movies with his family.” Spending some quality time with the fam is as fun as it gets.

Family-only activities are the least dangerous, as the only people you are exposed to are the people that you live with and therefore share everyday germs with. 13% of students at Urbana gathered in a poll said their parents are wary about letting teens go to Halloween parties. That being said, hanging out with friends is perfectly safe as long as there aren’t too many people inside at once, and everyone is making sure to keep face coverings on at all times. Outdoor parties have a little more leniency as to how many people are still safe.

All of these situations will become dangerous if not properly handled. Properly and frequently washing your hands, keeping face coverings on at all times, maintaining a 6-foot distance, and having a controlled amount of people, are all vital to making sure that a “super-spreader” event does not occur within our communities. 

There are some things that we cannot do now that we are in the middle of a pandemic. We cannot hand out candy through a bowl with loose candy in it, go to crowded indoor haunted houses, have trunk-or-treat events, etc. Craig Davis, 10, said in an interview that he would “miss seeing kids in their costumes.” Unfortunately, all of these things can get too out of control too quickly, and following the CDC recommendations has never been more important.

That said, outdoor haunted fields, mazes, and events like that are still perfectly safe. This pandemic does not change the fact that we can still dress up in ridiculous costumes, enjoy scary activities, decorate pumpkins, and watch enough horror movies that we don’t fall asleep until the early morning, with our bellies full to the brim with candy apples, skittles, Twix, and the like.

Covid-19 can take away trick-or-treating, but we will come back with handmade goodie bags. It may take away haunted hay rides, but we will come back with horror movies at the drive-in. Coronavirus will not take away from our American Halloween experience no matter how hard it tries.  

 

Some events in Frederick county include: 

Halloween Spooktacular

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/halloween-spooktacular-tickets-123079097895?aff=ebdssbdestsearch&utm-medium=discovery&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-source=cp&utm-term=destsearch 

Halloween Themed Paint Night

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/halloween-themed-paint-night-tickets-123243280971?aff=ebdssbdestsearch&utm-medium=discovery&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-source=cp&utm-term=destsearch 

Halloween Car-stume Parade

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/halloween-car-stume-parade-tickets-123526995569?aff=ebdssbdestsearch&utm-medium=discovery&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-source=cp&utm-term=destsearch 

Halloween Hooves and Horsepower Event

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/halloween-hooves-and-horsepower-event-tickets-121414001547?aff=ebdssbdestsearch&utm-medium=discovery&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-source=cp&utm-term=destsearch 

Halloween Hayride and Haunted Bonfire

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/halloween-hayride-and-haunted-bonfire-tickets-121658719505?aff=ebdssbdestsearch&utm-medium=discovery&utm-campaign=social&utm-content=attendeeshare&utm-source=cp&utm-term=destsearch 

 

Sources:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/

     daily-life-coping/holidays.html#halloween. Accessed 21 Sept. 2020. 

“Halloween and Covid-19: Have Fun While Staying Safe.” Healthy Children . Org,

     www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/COVID-19/Pages/

     Halloween-COVID-Safety-Tips.aspx. Accessed 5 Oct. 2020. 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/

     daily-life-coping/holidays.html#halloween. Accessed 21 Sept. 2020.