Halloween: COVID-19 edition

Ava Hunt

Children take to the streets, dressed in their scariest attire. They are laughing and talking as they make their way down the crowded sidewalks to the next house for candy. It is the night of October 31, and it is the peak of all things scary. However, this year, masks are not just part of costumes. 

  On September 21, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced guidelines for Halloween this year in the United States amid the COVID-19 pandemic. These guidelines were put in place in order to safely allow children to participate in Halloween festivities. 

Some of these guidelines include wearing a mask, staying six feet apart from other trick-or-treaters and bringing hand sanitizer. 

“Halloween is traditionally an outdoor holiday and the one time of the year when kids want to wear a mask. This is fully consistent with the CDC safety guidelines, and with the appropriate physical distancing, trick-or-treating can safely happen,” Dr. Stephen Ostroff, a former CDC and FDA official said. “Whether this means employing a creative ‘one-way’ solution or finding another way to show off costumes, this type of activity can easily take place this October with little risk of COVID-19 transmission.”

While these guidelines will change how people normally approach Halloween and its festivities, some of the fun still remains in the holiday, including for Xavier students and their younger siblings.

“I think these guidelines obviously take some of the fun out of it for kids, but I also think it’s the right thing to do,” junior Makynzie Eichmeyer said. “The candy buckets were already unsanitary before COVID-19, so it’s definitely safer for everyone with the guidelines in place.”

Officials in over 35 states have reimagined Halloween this year, which may cause the number of kids going trick-or-treating to go down. However, by following the guidelines, people can not only keep their children safe during a pandemic, but also allow them to participate in annual celebrations. Let the trick-or-treating begin!