As we head into the start of the holiday season with Halloween, the City of Salisbury asks residents to keep the following guidelines in mind for a safe Halloween celebration in order to minimize the spread of COVID-19. The CDC has divided common Halloween activities into three safety levels: low risk, moderate risk, and high risk activities.
Lower risk activities include:
- Carving and decorating pumpkins with members of your household or carving and decorating pumpkins outside at a safe distance with neighbors or friends
- Having a Halloween movie night with members of your household
- A Halloween scavenger hunt throughout your household for candy
- Participating in a virtual costume contest
- Baking and decorating Halloween treats with members of your household
- Team up as a neighborhood to create a safe, drive-thru haunted house
- Contactless drive-thru trick or treating events
Moderate risk activities include:
- One-way trick or treating in which goodie bags full of treats are placed at the edge of yards/driveways for no-contact grab and go
- Visit outdoor pumpkin patches or corn mazes where it is possible to stay 6 feet away from other patrons
- Attending a Halloween-themed outdoor movie night
High risk activities include:
- Door-to-door Trick or Treating
- Trunk or treat events in which candy is handed out to individuals
- Attending crowded costume parties, especially indoors
- Visiting crowded, indoor haunted houses
- Hayrides and tractor rides with people who are not members of your household
“As we get closer to Halloween, and the holiday season in general, the City wants to emphasize how important it is that we all take the proper precautions to keep ourselves and others safe,” shared City Administrator Julia Glanz. “Celebrations of all kinds this year are going to look very different than in years past and it’s up to community members to responsibly assess risk factors and control the spread of COVID-19,” she added.
Families still planning to still go trick or treating are recommended to use glow sticks or flashing pins to alert drivers of their whereabouts, attempt to stay on the sidewalk, use a flashlight, only cross the road at designated crosswalks, walk in groups or with an adult, and never enter strangers’ homes.
Additionally, a few precautions to take in order to minimize the spread of COVID while trick or treating: wear a mask or other face covering, try to stay at least 6 feet away from other people and trick or treaters not from your household, bring and utilize hand sanitizer frequently, and consider letting all candy sit for 72 hours to prevent interaction with active germs.
Please note that the City of Salisbury’s mandate from September 14th states that residential indoor gatherings must be limited to 15 people, and no more than 50 people can be present at residential outdoor gatherings. The City also wants to make it clear that Halloween costume masks do not constitute as a face covering, and a cloth mask must be worn underneath when in public areas in which mask usage is required.
There will be heightened police and fire presence throughout the City on Halloween evening to ensure the safety of our community, especially that of pedestrians walking in dimly lit areas near the road. As always, if there is an emergency, please dial 911.
For more information about the CDC’s Halloween celebration recommendations, please visit https://bit.ly/2GJMQpY
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