Ghouls and goblins will be out in force this Halloween, but COVID-19 could well be the scariest thing lurking in the shadows this year, so you need to take care.
While Halloween celebrations and trick-or-treating have been given the green light from NSW Health officials, trick-or-treaters are being asked to follow some important guidelines in order to be COVID-Safe.
NSW Health Protection executive director Dr Jeremy McAnulty said that as long as community transmission levels of COVID-19 remained low, NSW Health was supportive of Halloween celebrations going ahead on Saturday.
But with COVID-19 still "lurking in the shadows", trick-or-treaters were advised to play it safe.
"Halloween celebrations will need to be a little different this year due to COVID-19 and we are urging everyone in the community to play their part," Dr McAnulty said.
NSW Health has issued the following health guidelines surrounding Halloween trick-or-treating:
- It should be a front-yard event, not a front-door event (keep it outdoors and have no more than 20 people on your property at any one time)
- Provide closed packaging for treats and instead of communal lolly bowls, consider other ways of distributing treats, such as placing them on a front fence
- Offer hand sanitiser at the front gate
- Trick-or-treat as a household, not in groups, with a maximum of 30 people gathering outside at one time
- Maintain a 1.5-metre distance between people of different households - don't all crowd together in a pack
- Keep it local - put effort into decorating the front yard rather than focusing on well-known "treat streets" that often attract crowds
- Don't share costume face masks
- Stay at home if you are unwell
- People in isolation should not receive Halloween visitors
- Practice good hand hygiene and use hand sanitiser after touching common surfaces.
Details: For more advice click here.