A majority of people on the South Baltimore peninsula are taking the advice of city public health officials and sitting out Halloween this year – at least the traditional door-to-door trick-or-treating part – due to concerns about the coronavirus pandemic, according to a Facebook poll. Some residents, however, are still planning to take to the sidewalks or hand out treats on Oct. 31 but with pandemic precautions in mind.
Three-quarters of residents who usually go trick-or-treating door-to-door are not going out this year, according to the poll. And 60% of residents who usually hand out treats on Halloween are skipping that tradition this year.
The Peninsula Post Facebook poll was conducted Oct. 12-13 and shared on several peninsula neighborhood groups. Responses were received from 185 residents.
The Baltimore City Health Department in a statement released Sept. 30 stated that “regardless of age, traditional door-to-door trick-or-treating, indoor house parties, and indoor haunted houses are not advisable during an active pandemic and can significantly increase the chances of disease transmission.”
For those residents currently planning to forge ahead with traditional trick-or-treating, strategies are brewing on modifications that they hope will make it safer. Crafting a “Halloween distancing dispenser” out of PVC pipe to put some social distance between treat givers and receivers is one popular idea.
A mother of two on Jackson St. interviewed on Facebook is keeping her two-year-old at home but cautiously letting her six-year-old daughter, who had COVID this summer, go out trick-or-treating. “We’ll start early, around 5 or 6, and stick to streets with wide sidewalks and low traffic. We won’t be going anywhere she needs to go up a porch or knock on a door. If it’s too crowded, we will head home.”
South Baltimore Peninsula Post 