While Gov. Charlie Baker isn’t canceling Halloween this year amid the coronavirus pandemic, he said everything from your costume to how you hand out candy will look different this year.
It's the Halloween crowds that could be particularly scary this year, he said, and not just on the streets of Salem.
"Indoor Halloween parties are a really bad idea," Baker said at a news conference in Salem.
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Anyone handing out candy should make the interactions brief or just leave it outside, according to Baker. And any trick-or-treating should be done in small groups, with a mask as part of your costume.
"And not just a mask of Superman or Wonder Woman, like a real mask," he said.
There’s no statewide mandate on how communities should handle the holiday, and the governor said there’s a reason for that.
"The reason were not canceling Halloween is because that that would have turned into thousands of indoor Halloween parties," which would have been even worse for public safety, Baker said.
But the virus is spreading in some communities, and as the state moves forward with more reopening, Baker was asked if he's at all concerned about a second surge.
"We expected and anticipated that there would be an increase in the fall and that's why we built such significant infrastructure around testing and tracing, and we still talk to the hospitals every couple of days," he said.
