CDC says avoid 'traditional' trick-or-treating this Halloween

Expect Halloween 2020 to look quite a bit different than we're used to.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released guidelines on celebrating Halloween during the COVID-19 pandemic, warning that many of the holiday's "traditional" activities "can be high-risk for spreading viruses." For one, the CDC lists "traditional trick-or-treating" as a higher-risk activity and recommends avoiding it. Other activities it says should be avoided this year include attending a crowded indoor costume party, going to a crowded indoor haunted house, and going on hayrides or tractor rides with people from outside your household.

However, the CDC lists some activities that are "lower risk" and can be "safe alternatives" for celebrating Halloween, including carving or decorating pumpkins either with those in your household or outside with others while practicing social distancing, as well as holding a "virtual Halloween costume contest." It also says that a "Halloween scavenger hunt where children are given lists of Halloween-themed things to look for while they walk outdoors from house to house" would be a lower-risk option.

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Additionally, "one-way trick-or-treating" involving lining up goodie bags of treats so families can grab them while practicing social distancing is listed as a more "moderate risk" activity, as is going to an outdoor one-way haunted forest and having an outdoor costume party where masks are worn and social distancing is practiced. When it comes to dressing up, though, the CDC stresses that a mask you'd wear as part of a costume "is not a substitute for a cloth mask" and that a costume mask shouldn't be worn over a cloth mask.

This new guidance also touches on celebrations for upcoming holidays like Thanksgiving, warning that "large indoor gatherings with people from outside of your household" should be avoided and that in general, "staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others."