The warnings about Halloween have been going out for days now from state and local health officials.
Avoid large gatherings and Trick or Treating is probably not a great idea in this year of the pandemic.
But in a report by the SD Union Tribune about some work some local researchers have done, the scary thing about what can happen with the contagious coronavirus is not from candy as much as it is from people.
They point out in the report that evidence suggests that surfaces are much less of a risk than exposure to the respiratory droplets put into the air simply by breathing, talking, singing, yelling, coughing and sneezing.
As one of the researchers put it to the Union Tribune, “Instances of transmission via surface, any surface at all, are very rare”…adding that “your risk at Halloween is likely to be from other people.”
So while good hygiene, in other words, washing your hands and wiping the candy wrapping are probably not a bad idea, parents should be more concerned about those droplets in the air and the need to wear face masks, and not just the scary Halloween kind.
There are people who will still try trick or treating and those who will put out safely sanitized wrapped bags of candy from a distance. That’s how most of us have been doing a lot of things during the last almost 8 months.
So while you don’t have to be spooked by all the advice from health officials, it is a good idea to be smart and safe on this Halloween during scary 2020.
SEE THE GUIDANCE for Halloween from San Diego County public health officials.
(Photo Getty Images)