Is Halloween 2020 Canceled Due to Covid-19? Kind Of.

September 24, 2020

The CDC ranks Halloween 2020 activities by COVID-19 risk: No trick-or-treating, crowded parties or indoor haunted houses. Boo.

The CDC ranks Halloween 2020 activities by COVID-19 risk: No trick-or-treating, crowded parties or indoor haunted houses.

Halloween is just weeks away, with many people having to re-think how they’re going to celebrate the spooky holiday amid a raging pandemic. The CDC has ranked traditional Halloween activities like; trunk trick-or-treating, passing out candy door-to-door, costume parties and indoor haunted houses as moderate risks of spreading the coronavirus.

“Many traditional Halloween activities can be high-risk for spreading viruses,” the CDC said. “There are several safer, alternative ways to participate in Halloween,” the CDC says. “When planning to host a holiday celebration, assess current COVID-19 levels in your community to determine whether to postpone, cancel, or limit the number of attendees.”

Wearing masks, practicing physical distancing, hand-washing, disinfecting surfaces, limiting contact and wearing masks when preparing food is required by the CDC. Hosting small gatherings outdoors for shorter periods of time is safer than large indoor parties, according to health officials. The CDC also issued a warning against wearing face masks under Halloween masks.

Here’s a list of activities in order of how the CDC ranks Halloween activities:

Lower risk Halloween activities:

Carving or decorating pumpkins outside, at a safe distance, with neighbors or friends

Decorating your home in Halloween Decor

Going for car rides to enjoy Halloween decorations from a distance

Virtual Halloween costume contests

Halloween movie night with people you live with

Hosting a scavenger hunt for treats with your own household members in or around your home

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Moderate risk Halloween activities:

Participating in one-way trick-or-treating where individually wrapped goodie bags are lined up outside of homes for families to pick up while practicing physical distancing.

Outdoor, open-air costume parade and parties with no more than 20 people who are distanced more than 6 feet apart and face masks that are not costume.

Outdoor, one-way haunted mazes where masks are required and people can keep more than 6 feet apart.

Pumpkin patches, corn mazes, hayrides or orchards where people wear masks and use hand sanitizer before touching pumpkins or picking apples while maintaining social distancing.

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Higher risk Halloween activities to be avoided:

Participating in traditional trick-or-treating where treats are handed to children going door to door.

Avoid attending crowded indoor costume parties or Halloween ragers.

Having “trunk-or-treat” where candy is handed out to kids from trunks of cars lined up in large parking lots.

Going to indoor haunted houses where people are crowding together and screaming with or without face masks.

Going on hayrides or tractor rides with groups of people who from different households.

Avoid participating in bobbing for apples seasonal game.

Traveling to another city or country to celebrate Halloween other than where you live that has an increased COVID-19 transmission.

Drinking alcohol or doing drugs, “which can impair judgement and increase risky behaviors.”

Making out with someone you just met because it's Halloween and you've been stuck in your house for too long. Sorry, no excuse for that in 2020.

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People who end up participating in high-risk activities should stay home as much as possible for the 14 days that follow, avoid people at risk of severe illness from COVID-19 and consider getting tested, officials said.

More information can be found on the CDC’s website.

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