It’s a terrifying time to be alive thanks to coronavirus. In addition to all the other events the deadly virus has put the kibosh on, from St. Patrick’s Day parades to summer music festivals to the Olympics, its latest casualty is Halloween.
Health officials in Los Angeles have released new guidelines around the spookiest holiday of the year. Trick-or-treating, parties, festivals and haunted houses are all banned in the City of Angels for 2020.
“Door to door trick or treating is not allowed because it can be very difficult to maintain proper social distancing on porches and at front doors especially in neighborhoods that are popular with trick or treaters,” the new guidance stated.
Even “trunk-or-treating,” the novel Halloween tradition workaround, which involves children picking up candy from strangers’ cars (‘cause that’s not creepy), is off-limits.
“L.A. County is still among the California counties with high rates of community transmission,” Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said. “Before we get into cooler weather and flu season, we need to significantly lower the number of new cases.”
Here are some scary stats: as of Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed 249,241 cases of COVID-19 and 6,036 deaths from the virus in Los Angeles County.
Those behind the Halloween guidelines suggested online pumpkin carving parties, drive-by costume contests, or yard decorations as alternatives to the usual door-to-door pillow-cased candy collection that all children eagerly await every fall. While we support every effort to keep people – especially kids – safe during the COVID-19 pandemic, we have to be honest and say these options sound pretty lame in comparison.
At the very least, parents could give their kids the gift of a Halloween candy treasure hunt in their house or backyard. It’s not like the Easter bunny cares if you steal his celebration strategy.
Cover Photo: People Images (Getty Images)
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