City of Gallup issued the following announcement on Oct. 8.
The state has recently issued guidance and a calendar of alternative Halloween activities safe for families to participate in. For further information, you can visit TogetherNM.org to view their calendar of activities and find fun alternative ways to celebrate Halloween in a safe manner.
The Halloween activities are based on the recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website regarding holiday celebrations. According to the CDC, many traditional Halloween activities are high-risk and promote community spread.
The city would like to encourage residents that celebrate Halloween to do so in a manner that reduces their risk and avoids high-risk activities. By participating in these low-risk activities, Halloween can still be celebrated safely and prevent further community spread.
CDC guidelines for celebrating Halloween include:
Lower risk activities
- Carving or decorating pumpkins with members of your household and displaying them
- Carving or decorating pumpkins outside, at a safe distance, with neighbors or friends
- Decorating your house, apartment, or living space
- Doing a Halloween scavenger hunt where children are given lists of Halloween-themed things to look for while they walk outdoors from house to house admiring Halloween decorations at a distance
- Having a virtual Halloween costume contest
- Having a Halloween movie night with people you live with
- Having a scavenger hunt-style trick-or-treat search with your household members in or around your home rather than going house to house
- Participating in traditional trick-or-treating where treats are handed to children who go door to door
- Having trunk-or-treat where treats are handed out from trunks of cars
- Attending crowded costume parties held indoors
- Going to an indoor haunted house where people may be crowded together and screaming
- Going on hayrides or tractor rides with people who are not in your household
- Using alcohol or drugs, which can cloud judgment and increase risky behaviors
- Traveling to another community for Halloween events
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