DETROIT – Halloween is on Saturday -- but with cases of COVID-19 cases climbing throughout the country, a lot of people are reconsidering how to celebrate this year.
READ: Has COVID-19 changed how you’ll celebrate Halloween this year?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said trick-or-treating is a high-risk activity and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services agrees, but a lot of families are still planning to trick-or-treat, and many houses will still be handing out candy.
The safest approach is to stay home and do a candy scavenger hunt in your yard with members from your own household only, or those in your quarantine bubble.
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If you do plan to hand out candy or trick-or-treat, there are steps you should take to lower the risks of spreading or catching COVID-19.
Forget the usual approach of putting all the candy in one bowl and handing it out at your door. Instead, mask up and put on gloves. Make individual bags of candy the trick-or-treaters can grab easily from a disinfected table set up near your sidewalk.
Space out the candy on the table as much as possible.
Wear your mask and be sure to keep your distance as the trick-or-treaters go by.
Children should trick-or-treat only with members of their household and keep at least six feet of distance from other groups.
Everyone should wear a fabric mask with at least two layers -- a Halloween mask doesn’t count!
Having your child wear gloves is a good idea, too.
You should avoid crowded neighborhoods or head out earlier to make it easier to maintain social distance.
Once you get the candy home, consider switching it out with some candy from the store.
You can also quarantine the candy you collected for a few days to reduce the risk from touching the wrappers.
You do not want to spray any sort of cleaner on the candy wrappers. That could expose your children to a dangerous chemical.
A better option would be to have the adults open the candy and wash your hands immediately after.
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It’s important to let your children know before you head out that you will be skipping any houses that aren’t taking any precautions so they know what to expect.