GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ) — October is right around the corner, and for many, that means Halloween.
The CDC, Wisconsin DHS, Brown County Health Department, and the City of Appleton are all out with guidance on how people can safely celebrate the Halloween holiday amidst the COVID-19 pandemic this year.
Health experts are being realistic.
“If people stayed home and celebrated within their own households, that would be ideal,” said Brown County Health Department Spokesperson Claire Paprocki. “But I think we know that’s not going to happen.”
“We’d like people to trick-or-treat within their household only, so they don’t co-mingle with other families as they go door to door,” said Appleton Health Officer Kurt Eggebrecht. “[Those dishing out candy can] leave their yard light on just like they always have, but they may leave the candy in a bowl at the front door so they’re not touching the candy into the child’s trick or treat bag.”
As such, they’re not calling on local municipalities to cancel trick-or-treating this year. Instead, they’re asking candy-seeking kids and parents alike to take precautions, such as using hand sanitizer frequently while walking from house to house and limiting your group to those in your immediate family unit.
“Of course if you are sick or if you’ve been in contact with someone who has been experiencing symptoms or who have been diagnosed with COVID, stay home, please,” Paprocki urged.
There’s guidance on your costume, too: pick the masked ninja over the bare-faced pirate.
“You can easily incorporate [a mask] into your Halloween costume,” Paprocki told WTAQ. “Even if it’s not part of your costume, do it anyway.”
“Wearing a mask should be just automatic, like putting on the seat belts at this point. So whether you’re wearing a Halloween mask or not, the mask is still very important to wear underneath that mask,” Eggebrecht added.
Trick-or-Treating isn’t the only Halloween activity they’re issuing guidance on. The large Halloween parties popular with the 18-24 age demographic currently seeing a large COVID-19 increase in the state should be avoided this year, they say.
“If someone goes to a large gathering and doesn’t take any precautions or, maybe, they’re symptomatic, or even if they’re asymptomatic, it makes it harder to do the things we want to do,” said Paprocki. “It makes it harder to keep businesses open. It makes it harder to keep schools open.”
“We’re really pleading with the public to think about how their actions impact our community as a whole,” she added. “That goes for everyone.”
You can read the full guidance from Brown County here.
Trick-or-treating will take place in Appleton on Halloween night from 4 to 8 p.m. You can check out their full guidance here.
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