Halloween celebrations amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic are bound to look different later this month.
Some familiar haunted houses were canceled months ago, but other events will still be open to the public.
Boo at the Zoo, the popular trick-or-treating party at the Fort Worth Zoo, has been transformed into a drive-thru event this year. Tickets are already sold out. Protective masks will be encouraged, but not required unless someone needs to exit their vehicle to use the restroom.
Drive-thru Boo at the Zoo will run from October 22 through the 25th.
After briefly considering canceling the event, a Dallas man will run his annual haunted house from his home near White Rock Lake.
“I want to be supportive of the PPE movement, but what I have noticed as we have progressed into October is people want to watch football games, they want to do fall activities,” said Scott Carpenter, whose home in the 11000 block of Cimarec Street is set to host more than 100 socially-distanced trick-or-treaters.
Carpenter said attendees at his haunted house will be required to wear protective face masks, and he will have masks to offer to children who don’t bring their own.
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“I think we can do a PPE Halloween. It will look, for a backyard, pretty spectacular. And I think it's what the kids want,” Carpenter said.
Within the last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released revised guidelines with respect to safe celebration of Halloween.
The guidance suggests that many traditional Halloween activities can be high-risk for transmitting COVID-19.
Among the suggestions from the CDC offered are that a costume mask should not be considered as a substitute for a protective cloth mask, and that a protective mask should not be worn at the same time as a costume mask.
In addition, it is recommended that if someone attends a Halloween celebration that is likely to include screaming six feet of social distance is not likely going to be enough.
