A Covid Safe Halloween

By Roxana Margely, Patricio Flores, and Leilani Quintero
OCT 29, 2020

As Halloween draws near, many are searching for an alternative to their usual Halloween plans. Due to COVID-19, this fun holiday will be different than any other holiday we’ve experienced so far. Although no legal restrictions have been put in place to stop anyone from going out this Halloween, precautions are still recommended. The CDC has many guidelines that everyone should take into careful consideration before making Halloween plans.

The CDC recommends that groups of individuals, who plan to celebrate Halloween, should find out about the exact location to which they plan to go and its specifics such as ventilation and time length. For instance, an indoor location with poor ventilation allows COVID to circulate a lot easier than an outdoor area and a longer event will leave you more exposed than a shorter event. The CDC’s guidelines also recommend to be cautious of the amount of people expected to be at an event due to the fact that the amount of people at a gathering will either increase or decrease your chances of exposure, more people equates to a higher chance of COVID exposure and lower equates to a lower chance. In addition, finding out whether attendees have been traveling recently and steering clear of improper social distancing behavior is crucial. It is important to avoid attendees who may have traveled to a COVID-19 hotspot and who ignore social distancing guidelines or do not wear a mask.

Regardless of the CDC’s recommendations, Halloween is an annual holiday that many are accustomed to and will proceed to celebrate. Due to this, it is only equitable that alternatives are sought out. Some fun ideas for friends and family to enjoy with one another include a Halloween movie night, pumpkin carving party, baking Halloween themed treats, or a virtual costume party. With proper precautions, all of them follow CDC’s recommended social distancing guidelines.

According to Saint Thomas Aquinas Senior student body, more than half of STA seniors, specifically 58.9%, plan to spend the night in, watching entertaining Halloween movies. Differing, 21.3% plan to bake Halloween themed goods at home, 9% plan to host a pumpkin carving party contest, and 5.5% plan to have a virtual Halloween costume party. A night spent in could mean baking cute treats with friends, watching nostalgic Halloween movies such as Hocus Pocus, or having an eventful costume party on Zoom. Whereas, a day spent outside could mean a competitive pumpkin carving party out in the fresh air. Overall, Halloween is a great chance to get out of the house or snuggle up indoors with a small group of dear friends and attempt to make the most of given circumstances.