Sask. doctor offers advice ahead of Halloween

Halloween has some parents scared for a different reason than other years.

COVID-19 continues to remain top of mind for people ahead of the spooky holiday. Guidelines have been put in place by the province, which include practising physical distancing if people are out trick-or-treating and not participating in large gatherings.

Dr. Carla Holinaty, a family physician in Saskatoon, told the 980 CJME Greg Morgan Morning Show on Wednesday that parents still have reservations about taking part in the festivities.

“It’s a bit of a difficult situation because there hasn’t been really clear guidance provided to give parents that yes or no answer I think a lot people are looking for. I think it’s important people assess their own level of risk tolerance in terms of what they’re going to do with their own families,” Holinaty said.

She said trick-or-treating is probably a higher-risk activity than other events, such as a costume parade or a candy scavenger hunt inside a person’s own home.

She did offer some advice for people planning to head outside and go door to door.

“I think a really important thing to remember is that it’s going to be critical this year to respect people’s choices. If there are houses in your neighbourhood that have their lights turned off, please don’t go to their door; they don’t want people coming,” Holinaty said.

“Wearing a mask is going to be important for everybody, so masking both the trick-or-treaters and the people who are handing out candy can help prevent the spread of germs that way.”

She said cloth masks are going to be more effective at stopping the spread of COVID than a traditional Halloween mask.

“Probably in a lot of cases you don’t want to be wearing a cloth mask and then putting a silicone or rubber mask on top of it because that will affect how your mask is working for you,” Holinaty said.

“Incorporating cloth masks into costumes can be a good way for parents to have kids wear that mask and wear it safely and still have it be a fun part of that costume.”

She also said people should think about using tongs to hand out treats to limit the number of people who come in contact with the goodies.