L.A. County Urges People Not to Go Trick-or-Treating on Halloween

White pumpkin (Steve Baker / Flickr / CC)
Steve Baker / Flickr / CC

Los Angeles County public health officials are urging the public not to go trick-or-treating for Halloween this year due to the danger of transmitting coronavirus.

A new set of guidelines released Wednesday indicated (original emphasis):

Halloween Activities:

Not Permitted (gatherings and events are not currently allowed under the Health Officer Order)

  • Halloween gatherings, events or parties with non-household members are not permitted even if they are conducted outdoors.
  • Carnivals, festivals, live entertainment, and haunted house attractions are not allowed.

Not Recommended

  • Door to door trick or treating is not recommended because it can be very difficult to maintain proper social distancing on porches and at front doors, ensure that everyone answering or coming to the door is appropriately masked to prevent disease spread, and because sharing food is risky.
  • “Trunk or treating” where children go from car to car instead of door to door to receive treats is also not recommended, particularly when part of Halloween events, since it is difficult to avoid crowding and sharing food.

Permitted and Recommended

  • Online parties/contests (e.g. costume or pumpkin carving)
  • Car parades that comply with public health guidance for vehicle based parades including:
    1. Drive by events or contests where individuals dress up or decorate their vehicles and drive by “judges” that are appropriately physically distanced.
    2. Drive through events where individuals remain in their vehicles and drive through an area with Halloween displays.
    3. Drive in events where individuals can receive a treat bag (limited to commercially packaged non-perishable treats) or take away item from an organizer while the participants remain in their vehicle.
  • Halloween movie nights at drive in theaters (must comply with the public health drive in movie theater guidance).
  • Halloween themed meals at outdoor restaurants (must comply with the restaurant protocol).
  • Halloween themed art installations at an outdoor museum (must comply with the public health

    museum guidance.)

  • Dressing up homes and yards with Halloween themed decorations.

County officials backed away from banning trick-or-treating altogether, which they did in an earlier set of guidelines on Tuesday, National Public Radio noted.

L.A. County Sheriff Alex Villanueva had to reassure the public that trick-or-treaters will not be ticketed.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). His new book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.

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