Trick-or-treating on Halloween was listed as a high-risk activity by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with other holiday customs. The CDC also included lists of lower-to moderate-risk activities that can be safer alternatives this Halloween.
In the Coastal Bend, haunted tours, escape rooms, and haunted houses following CDC guidelines offer some fun ways to celebrate the scariest season of the year. We have all the information on 101CorpusChristi.com.
In other words, COVID-19 doesn’t have to scare away all the fun; we just have to think outside the candy bags.
Lower-risk activities:

  • carving or decorating pumpkins with household members for outdoor displays
  • decorating your home or living space
  • conducting a Halloween scavenger hunt of decorations using a list of Halloween-themed items to look for while walking a neighborhood
  • holding a virtual Halloween costume competition
  • hosting a Halloween movie night with your household
  • having an indoor scavenger hunt-style trick-or-treat search with your household members

Moderate-risk activities:

  •  “grab-and-go" individually wrapped trick-or-treat goodie bags set out on a table or blanket in the yard
  • hosting a small, outdoor, open-air costume parade with people staying 6 feet apart
  • walking through an outdoor, one-way “haunted forest” with mandatory face coverings
  • visiting pumpkin patches or orchards where hand sanitizer is used before touching pumpkins or picking apples and wearing masks and social distancing are required
  • an outdoor Halloween movie night with local family and friends with people seated at least 6 feet apart

Higher-risk activities:

  • traditional trick-or-treating;
  • trunk-or-treat where treats are given from trunks of cars lined up in large parking lots
  • crowded indoor costume parties
  • indoor haunted house where people might be crowded together and screaming
  • hayrides or tractor rides with people not in your household
  • the use of alcohol or drugs, which can increase risky behaviors
  • traveling to a rural fall festival outside of your community to places where COVID-19 cases have increased

The CDC also noted that Halloween costume masks are not sufficient for guarding against the spread of the virus. Also, avoid wearing a costume mask over a protective cloth mask as that can be make it difficult to breathe, especially for children. Consider using a Halloween-themed cloth mask instead.
Whatever you do for Halloween, try to keep the screaming to a minimum as a good hearty scream can project infected droplets into the air over more than 6 feet.