Tips For A Safer Halloween!

The following blog was provided by
the Pennsylvania Campground Owners Association
(PCOA) and highlights tips to hosting safe Halloween events at
campgrounds and RV parks. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has already changed the way we’ve
traditionally celebrated many events in 2020. We’ve had canceled Easter egg
hunts, summer festivals and Fourth of July fireworks.

Unfortunately, the next (and for many, the favorite) holiday of
the year is Halloween. Trick-or-Treat will be a challenge. We all want our
kids to be safe and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
has recommended against traditional door-to-door
trick-or-treating.

But Halloween itself isn’t canceled, and if it’s something your
family looks forward to each year, you should still celebrate. You just have
to modify your approach.

These higher-risk activities should be avoided, according to the
CDC’s guidance.

• Door-to-door trick-or-treating.
• Trunk-or-treat activities (where treats are handed out from
  trunks of cars in parking lots).
• Indoor costume parties and haunted houses.
• Hayrides with people who don’t live in your
  household.
• Traveling to rural fall festivals that aren’t in your community
  if your town has community spread of COVID-19.
• Alcohol or drug use that would impair your ability to make safe
  choices.

According to the CDC, the following moderate-risk alternatives are
a bit safer, although they still carry risks.

• One-way trick-or-treating “where individually wrapped goodie
  bags are lined up for families to grab and go while continuing to social
  distance (such as at the end of a driveway or at the edge of a yard).” If you
  make goodie bags, you should wash your hands for 20 seconds before and after
  creating them.
• Outdoor costume parades with small groups that allow for more
  than 6 feet of distance between people.
• Outdoor costume parties where people are wearing cloth face
  masks and are more than 6 feet apart.
• Open-air, outdoor walk-through haunted forests where people are
  wearing cloth face masks and are more than 6 feet apart. (More distance is
  recommended between people if screaming is expected.)
• Visits to pumpkin patches or apple orchards where people use
  hand sanitizer, there is proper social distancing and face mask-wearing is
  encouraged or enforced.
• An outdoor Halloween movie night with local family and friends
  who can maintain more than 6 feet of distance from each
  other.

About Masks:

• Do not use costume masks in place of cloth
  masks.
• Do not use a costume mask (such as for Halloween) as a
  substitute for a cloth mask unless it is made of two or more layers of
  breathable fabric that covers your mouth and nose and doesn’t leave gaps
  around your face.
• Do not wear a costume mask over a cloth mask because it can be
  dangerous if the costume mask makes it hard to breathe. Instead, consider
  using a Halloween-themed cloth mask.

The CDC recommends the following activities as the lowest-risk
ways to enjoy Halloween.

• Carving and decorating pumpkins with people in your household,
  and then displaying them.
• Carving and decorating pumpkins outside at a safe distance with
  neighbors or friends.
• Decorating your house, apartment or living space (or needless to
  say, your RV!).
• Going on a Halloween scavenger hunt through the neighborhood by
  giving children a list of things to look for while looking at Halloween
  decorations from a distance.
• A virtual Halloween costume contest.
• A Halloween movie night at home with the people you live with.

All of the suggestions above apply whether you’re at home or
staying in a campground for a Halloween weekend. Be creative, and make
Halloween a fun holiday for your family!