DPH COVID-19 Update 10/14/2020

Halloween Safety

This Halloween you can enjoy activities while taking steps to protect yourself and others from COVID-19. As previously mentioned, DPH has produced a range-of-risk chart that shows the risk levels associated with certain activities. If you’re planning to participate in activities like decorating and carving pumpkins; visiting an orchard, forest or corn maze; attending an outdoor scavenger hunt; or hosting an outdoor costume party, remember to wear a mask, stay at least 6 feet from others who do not live with you, and wash your hands frequently. 

Please see additional Green or Low Risk ideas: 

• Hide Halloween treats in and around your house. Hold a Halloween treat hunt with household members and have prizes.
• Hold an outdoor costume parade or contest so everyone can show off their costumes.
• Host an outdoor Halloween movie night with friends or neighbors or an indoor movie night with your household members.
• Host/participate in a virtual Halloween Costume contest with neighbors or family.

Wear a Mask

Masks are a critical preventive measure and are recommended as a simple barrier to help prevent respiratory droplets from traveling into the air and onto other people when the person wearing the mask coughs, sneezes, talks or yells. This is called source control. Wearing your mask also offers some protection for you. Additional information from the CDC can be found here. 

This Halloween, consider the following:

• Make your cloth mask part of your costume
• A costume mask is not a substitute for a mask
• Do not wear a costume mask over a cloth mask if it makes breathing difficult
• Masks should NOT be worn by children under the age of 2 or anyone who has trouble breathing

Close Contact and Gatherings

The more closely you interact with others and the longer the interaction is, the risk of transmitting COVID-19 increases. Attending gatherings or events of any size is not recommended. Before interacting with others ask yourself these questions:  

Interacting with more people increases your risk. How many people will you interact with?

• Being in a group with people who aren’t social distancing or wearing masks increases your risk.
• Engaging with new people (i.e. those who don’t live with you) also increases your risk.
• Others may have the virus and do not show any symptoms. Asymptomatic carriers can still transmit the virus. 

Can you keep 6 feet of space between you and others? Will you be outdoors or indoors?

• The closer you are to other people who may be infected, the greater your risk of getting sick.
• Keeping distance from other people is especially important for people who are at higher risk for severe illness, such as older adults and those with underlying medical conditions.
• Indoor spaces pose more risk than outdoor spaces. Indoors is harder to keep distance from others and there is typically less ventilation.

How long will you be interacting with other people?

• Spending more time with people who may be infected increases your risk of becoming infected.
• Spending more time with people increases their risk of becoming infected if there is any chance that you may already be infected.​