Kansas City Star: Can you do Halloween without getting COVID-19?

By Lisa Gutierrez

These are Halloween safety tips, pre-pandemic. Make sure your child’s costume is nonflammable. Don’t let them eat candy that’s not in its original wrapper. Take a flashlight when you go trick-or-treating.

All still true. But with COVID-19 lurking, safety takes on epic importance this year.

Is it safe for kids to go trick-or treating? Is it safe to take candy from strangers during a pandemic? Is it safe to hand out candy?

Can we do Halloween without getting COVID-19?

“I don’t know what it will look like. But here’s what I hope Halloween will look like,” said Dr. Angela Myers, director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Children’s Mercy.

“I hope that as a community we all work really hard to wear a mask in public and stay out of mass gatherings and continue to be careful about decisions we make and the places we go so that we drive down our community rates, which are quite high right now.”

“When you’re walking around with your child, you don’t want to go in a big clump or a big group of people as sometimes happens,” said Myers. “It’s best to remember that we are doing our social distancing right now and try to keep doing that.”

Children should wear masks, even outdoors, she said. “Try to make that as fun as possible,” says Myers. “Think about being creative, letting your child pick their mask. Or if you don’t have one that goes with the costume, you could decorate one that would go with it.”

At home, designate one person — best to be an adult — to hand out the candy. Don’t leave the bowl out for kids to dig into.

“It is a good idea … not having a bunch of kids’ hands in the candy bowl,” said Myers.

Doctors, though, are not keen on seeing packs of trick-or-treaters crowding sidewalks this year.

Read the full story via The Kansas City Star.

Learn more about Helping Your Child Wear a Mask