The ghastly effects COVID-19 had on Halloween and solutions to this spooky issue
By Emma Clark ‘21
Picture shows six-year old Emma Clark (Class of 2021) trick-or-treating with her father
Every year, families around the nation celebrate a spooky holiday by carving pumpkins, dressing up in their most terrifying costumes, and trick-or-treating. But with a global pandemic looming overhead, this year's Halloween was more trick than treat.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advised that people take necessary precautionary measures to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 this Halloween. These included avoiding direct contact with trick-or-treaters, washing hands prior to handing out treats, distributing treats outdoors, and wearing facemasks.
Catlin Gabel School (CGS) first grader, Rishi Rajayer, planned to dress up as Harry Potter and go trick-or-treating, but took the wise decision to use hand sanitizer before and after scavenging for candy.
Dr. Leana Wen, a CNN Medical Analyst, recommended that those celebrating Halloween this year should go as far as even avoiding small group gatherings.
“What's driving this latest surge of infections is small gatherings of friends and extended family,” said Wen. “We need to keep in mind that our loved ones are just as likely to be asymptomatic carriers of COVID-19 as strangers.”
While Dr. Wen urged families and friends to gather in small groups (preferably outdoors), with Portland’s chilly weather, it comes as no surprise that many preferred celebrating indoors.
The University of California, Davis had some suggestions on how to celebrate Halloween in a safe and fun manner during these difficult times.
One option UC Davis offered is to have a virtual Halloween party and host the same spooky activities as you would in “normal” times. You could have a virtual costume contest, dance party, or pumpkin carving contest!
Another option is that instead of trick-or-treating, parents could create a scavenger hunt and hide candy all around the house.
A lot of our CGS first-grade friends applied many of the methods advised by UC Davis when celebrating Halloween this year.
If you would like to put an educational twist on the popular holiday, parents could host a game of Jeopardy or Kahoot and have their children earn their candy by answering correctly.
Another suggestion would be rather than going to a public haunted house, you could try transforming your own home into a haunted house!
Maybe you’re interested in a cozy night in? Throw on a scary movie or share ghost stories! That is what CGS first grader Brandon Weaver planned on doing. This Halloween, he had a party with his grandma and grandpa, where they ate candy and watched a spooky movie.
You could also search your local area for drive-through (and contactless) haunted houses or even spend the night at a drive-in movie theater!
CGS first grader, Sophia Hill, who went as a member of the Odd Squad, attended the “Howloween” event put on by the Oregon Zoo, where she safely participated in trick-or-treating and left with a giant bag of candy.
Yet another possible COVID-19 friendly Halloween idea was to try “reverse trick-or-treating.” Instead of kids going door to door and asking for candy, kids could stand on their porches wearing their costumes while their fellow neighbors drop off candy packages.
Two CGS first graders, Liam Ageno and Theia Pretlow, celebrated using a mix of the UC Davis-suggested celebratory methods.
Ageno, who dressed up as a dragon, planned on having a friend over, watching a movie, eating pizza, playing some games, and hunting for candy around his backyard.
Pretlow, who was a vampire, wanted to go trick-or-treating around the park near her house and then decorated her house with Halloween decorations. She also planned on making a huge pumpkin pie and stuffing her face into it!
CGS first grader Case Grube put his own spin on this frightening holiday. He planned on having a candy guessing challenge with his neighbors. Everyone blindly ate a piece of candy and tried to guess what type of candy it was.
It seemed that Halloween, even under the unfortunate circumstances of COVID-19, could still be a fun holiday that leaves you with unforgettable memories– all it took was a little creativity and some hand sanitizer!