Families Prep For Safer Halloween Fun Amid Rising COVID Cases
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Halloween is next weekend and many families are making different kinds of plans this year during the pandemic.
"It's really difficult to plan Halloween," Lindsay Kvasnik, from Plymouth, said.
Kvasnik and her 6-year-old son, Manning, who have done hay rides and trick-or-treating in past years, are doing a candy scavenger hunt with their neighbors this year.
"Everyone will have candy pre-bagged," she said. "And then each family is going to meet in the cul-de-sac, but everyone has a different route so we aren't going the exact same way."
Dwight Heairet constructed a 7-foot-long candy chute on his front porch to give out candy to kids in their Rockford neighborhood so that they can give out candy but be socially distanced.
Some WCCO viewers said they'd be leaving out a bowl of candy. Others said they wouldn't be trick-or-treating this year. The Minnesota Department of Health says activities that limit interaction to within your own household are the lowest risk.
"Activities outside, simply activities in your own household or something that's virtual like a virtual Halloween costume contest," MDH spokesperson Doug Schultz said.
No contact trick-or-treating is classified as medium risk.
Health officials say the traditional door to door, face-to-face trick or treating is the highest risk activity this holiday. Schultz says if you do go trick or treating, it's important to talk to your kids about social distancing from other families, consider wearing a mask, and use hand sanitizer or wash your hands when you're able.