FAYETTEVILLE -- Trick-or-treating, indoor costume parties and haunted houses should be avoided this Halloween, the city's Board of Health agreed Wednesday.
The city's public health officer, Marti Sharkey, prepared guidelines for the holiday that follow recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released last month. The federal guidelines classify activities in terms of low, moderate and high risk of spreading covid-19.
Children going door-to-door for candy is a high-risk activity, according to the guidelines. People also should refrain from going to indoor costume parties or haunted houses. Being crowded together and screaming can help spread the virus, the guidance says. Handing out candy at trunk-or-treat events and going on hayrides with people outside a household also should be avoided.
The Board of Health is asking residents to participate in low-risk activities. Those could include outdoor costume parades with small groups, outdoor pumpkin carving or having an Easter egg hunt-style candy search outside. Neighborhoods also could arrange scavenger hunts in which children are given lists of Halloween-themed items to find.
Costume masks also should not substitute cloth face coverings, nor should children wear cloth face coverings in addition to a costume mask.
Springdale also is encouraging residents to seek alternatives to traditional Halloween activities. The city is planning a drive-through trick-or-treat event 3-5 p.m. Oct. 31 at C.L. "Charlie" and Willie George Park. Residents will stay in their cars while city employees hand out goodie bags.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson during his weekly news conference Tuesday reiterated the federal guidelines for Halloween, saying he wanted to avoid seeing a spike in cases related to the holiday.
Sharkey told the board residents need to stay mindful as the days get colder with the season, making outdoor events less comfortable.
"If everyone goes indoors and takes off their masks, we're in bad shape," she said.
In other business, the board intends to send a letter to the state Department of Health asking for the city to get a share of nearly 60,000 rapid antigen tests being distributed among county public health clinics.
The board last week discussed having surveillance testing at Fayetteville High School as a way to gauge covid-19 spread throughout the city. Gary Berner with Community Clinic said staffing at the clinic is strained, and likely only a one-time event could be held.
The board decided to wait to see how many rapid antigen tests the city might get, and make a decision about surveillance testing after that.
Board members also expressed displeasure with signs the Washington County Election Commission plans to put up at polling sites, asking voters to stay six feet apart but making no mention of wearing a mask.
Polling places are exempted from the state mask mandate. Board members hope to at least have signs asking voters to wear a mask, not saying they're required.
City Attorney Kit Williams said the election commission is in charge of its own signs, but that he would ask to see if the city's polling sites could have signs at least asking for masks to be worn.
Board Member Huda Sharaf, medical director for the Pat Walker Health Center at the University of Arkansas, said the board's perspective on mask wearing is not a political one.
"We're basically trying to take care of the health and safety of the citizens of the city," she said.
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Halloween guidelines
Participate in safe alternatives to traditional trick-or-treating:
• Small group, outdoor costume parades.
• Outdoor pumpkin carving/decorating while social distancing.
• Doing a Halloween scavenger hunt where children are given lists of Halloween-themed things to look for while walking in their neighborhood.
• Having an Easter egg hunt-style trick-or-treat search.
Activities to avoid:
• 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 a haunted house where people may be crowded together and screaming
• Going on hayrides or tractor rides with people who are not in your household.
Source: Fayetteville Board of Health
Stacy Ryburn can be reached by email at sryburn@nwadg.com or on Twitter @stacyryburn.