MDH: Still 'too premature' to determine pandemic's impact on Halloween
NEW YORK, NY - OCTOBER 31: Children go trick-or-treat at a restaurant on Halloween, October 31, 2019 in New York City. Halloween, which is named from "All Hallows' Eve", falls a day before All Saints' Day on November 1. (Photo by Jeenah Moon/Getty Im ((Photo by Jeenah Moon/Getty Images))
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - With so many plans already impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, many are starting to wonder what Halloween celebrations in Minnesota could like this year.
In a coronavirus briefing Wednesday, Minnesota Department of Health Infectious Disease Director Kris Ehresmann says it's still too early to tell what kind of impact the pandemic will have on the holiday.
"It's certainly a really valid issue, something that we should be looking at as we move into late October," said Ehresmann. "I think at this point it would be premature for us to make any sort of decisions simply because we will have six or seven more weeks of disease transmission to monitor."
While Ehresmann says it's too soon to make decisions, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health in California already released its Halloween guidance. The county banned in-person Halloween parties and haunted houses and recommended against door-to-door trick-or-treating. Instead, the department recommended online parties, car parades or drive-in events where participants receive a treat bag of commercially wrapped goodies.
Halloween plans in Minnesota are starting to take shape in some communities. In Anoka, "The Halloween Capital of the World," plans are underway for Halloween events to fit COVID-19 guidelines. For example, a drive-by parade is being organized so people can "enjoy from [their] car."
Ehresmann says Minnesota health officials are planning to give more guidance closer to October 31.