You don’t need to worry about catching COVID-19 from wrapped candy, although as always you should avoid unwrapped candy.
Halloween costume masks won’t protect you from airborne coronavirus; wear a cloth mask for that.
There’s no way to keep out-of-towners from attending your town’s trick-or-treat event.
If you do have neighborhood trick-or-treat, create one-way routes like in grocery stores to minimize families congregating at a house.
Those are among the pieces of advice for communities wrestling with how to have Halloween in the COVID-19 era that came out of an online discussion held by the New Hampshire Municipal Association.
“We have 234 municipalities, and there are about 234 different events that will happen this month,” said Natch Greyes, an attorney with the NHMA who hosted the webinar.
One event that won’t happen Oct. 31 is the semi-official gathering on Auburn Street in Concord, which has become so famous for its decorations and generous candy that police block off the road to handle the Halloween crowds.
A community statement released by Susan Zlotnick-Hale, who lives in what is known on Halloween as “the Pirate House,” said the neighborhood had agreed to skip the event this year.
“Residents are saddened but hopeful next year will be better than ever. Many neighbors are donating money that would have otherwise gone to candy and decorations to various local children’s organizations. Some neighbors may have their porch lights on indicating a house that is offering a treat (or maybe a trick),” the statement said.
During the NHMA webinar, Greyes noted that the situation for Halloween is complicated by no clear legal guidance about local oversight. Various laws concerning public safety that could apply, he said, but many have not been tested in court and might not hold up.
He noted one law (RSA 47:17-VII) that allows cities “to prohibit the rolling of hoops, playing at ball or flying of kites, or any other amusement or practice having a tendency to annoy persons passing in the streets and sidewalks, or to frighten teams of horses” and others (RSA 147:1) that allow public health officials to exercise their “judgement” in allowing activities.
Several of Gov. Sununu’s guidance orders for COVID-19 can help, he said, including those for road races and for fairs and festivals. These have no legal authority over towns and cities but do have legal authority over non-profits or other groups holding events.
One advantage this year is that Oct. 31 falls on a Saturday, so communities won’t have to decide between traditional Halloween night and a weekend.
Having events all over the state held on the same evening will reduce the chances that people will flock to neighboring communities that’s on a different schedule. Avoiding dense crowds is the most important way to keep the celebration from creating a “super-spreader” event.
This does raise a question about the “Gate Night” celebration in Penacook, which for reasons that are not entirely clear holds trick-or-treating on Oct. 30. This has long given kids in Concord and Boscawen two nights to collect candy, since the rest of Concord goes with the traditional Oct. 31, but it’s uncertain what will happen this year.
Both Gate Night and Halloween are unofficial in Concord, since the city sets no time or date and lets people trick-or-treat as they wish.
Some cities do set parameters. Manchester, for example, says trick or treat will last from 6 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 31.
Other communities, the NHMA webinar noted, are trying new things this year to help people spread out. Auburn, for example, has set up a designated car route where children are driven from stop to stop to get candy.
In Weare, which has set trick or treat from 5 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 31, the police department is sponsoring a contest to see who can come up with the most “creative and scary way” to distribute candy while staying at least six feet away. Candy chutes and zip lines which take candy out to the sidewalk in a box decorated like a ghost or bat are among the possibilities.
The key to safe trick-or-treating, said Sophia Johnson, health officer in the state Department of Public Health, is the same as it is for being safe doing anything else in public: Distance, barriers and time. Don’t get close to other people, use barriers between yourself and them when possible, and spread things out.
One other idea came from Greyes: “Sitting alone in the pumpkin patch awaiting Great Pumpkin like Linus does it – that’s very safe.”
The entire webinar can be seen online at youtube.com/watch?v=z2W88dGKtBo.
(David Brooks can be reached at 369-3313 or dbrooks@cmonitor.com.)
