Dearborn Officials Urge Residents To Try Trick-Or-Treating Alternatives

Dearborn city officials are urging parents to ditch trick-or-treating this year to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19.

“We understand that trick-or-treating is an important tradition for many families,” Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. said in a Local4 story Monday (October 5). “However, maintaining public health is vital and we need to avoid spreading this deadly disease as much as possible.”

Health officials have been bracing for Halloween activities in Michigan and beyond. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention deemed trick-or-treating a higher risk activity, and those who choose to participate should wear masks and social distance from others.

Some residents around the country have already started to plan how to encourage social distancing this Halloween.

Still, the CDC lists other Halloween activities that, though non-traditional, are lower risk.

Dearborn officials are backing Halloween alternatives to trick-or-treating, including virtual costume parties, socially distanced scavenger hunts, carving pumpkins and hosting Halloween movie nights.

City leaders also encourage homeowners to leave six-foot markings with duct tape leading to their door, avoid contact with trick-or-treaters, and to consider holding a Halloween costume parade through the neighborhood to encourage social distancing, among other recommendations.

Visit halloween2020.org to make decisions based on COVID-19 risk levels broken down county-by-county in each state.

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