Chittenango encourages families to celebrate Halloween safely this year in light of ongoing health concerns due to COVID-19. With the proper precautions, everyone can enjoy a safe and spooky celebration.
Madison County has announced best practices for Halloween and trick-or-treating this year. These can be found at madisoncounty.ny.gov/2642/Halloween-Best-Practices.
Not everyone will feel comfortable participating in traditional Halloween activities in the village; alert others that you are not participating by leaving your outside lights off on Halloween evening.
If you do participate in the Halloween tradition, follow Madison County’s guidelines, specifically:
- Stay home if you are sick
- Keep groups small
- Wear a face covering mouth and nose
- Hand sanitize frequently and wash hands when handing out candy, returning home, when unwrapping candy and again before you enjoy your candy
- Lay out candy on a disinfected table to avoid cross-contamination in the candy bowl. Be imaginative on how to hand out candy from six feet, like grab-and-go bags; wash your hands before handling candy or goody bags
- Remain six feet apart from other trick-or-treating groups
Traditional trick-or-treating activities are considered high-risk by the CDC, as are any indoor Halloween gatherings. See cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/holidays.html#halloween for more information.
Small bottles of hand sanitizer are available at the village offices to help keep hands and candy COVID-19 free. The village offices are open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday; supplies are limited.
Village police will be patrolling on Halloween. Large congregations in streets and on sidewalks will be asked to break into smaller groups and to maintain social distancing. Wear face coverings.
New York state has not released its own guidance on Halloween. Citizens need to be prepared to adjust their Halloween plans based on the status of the COVID-19 pandemic in our community and the state’s orders; however, on Sept. 15, the Governor was quoted as saying that he would not ban trick-or-treaters going door-to-door. He indicated he would issues state guidelines.
The village is still waiting on these.
See governor.ny.gov/news/audio-rush-transcript-governor-cuomo-halloween-i-would-not-ban-trick-or-treaters for a transcript of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s statement on Halloween.
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