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CDC Recommends Some Changes For Halloween

(CBS DETROIT) – Halloween is a time kids look forward to going house to house and yell those three famous words, but according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, trick-or-treating this year is considered a high-risk activity.

Little ghosts and goblins will soon descend on the streets of Metro Detroit. But this year the concern for parents during trick-or-treating is not the weather.

"The passing of candy, the touching, the germs, being around people some wearing a masks, not wearing a mask," said Melanie Bowers.

With all this uncertainty, Bowers decided to opt out of taking her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter trick-or-treating this year. And that's exactly what the CDC says is best in preventing the spread of Covid-19.

"We're doing our best to try and control the spread of coronavirus and in standard trick or treating we're having people go, our kids go door to door face to face with strangers and possibly transmitted it to those strangers or possibly having the strangers transmit it to them," said Dr. Shaun Jayakar of Ascension St John Hospital.

Jayakar says it just not worth the risk.

The CDC released new guidelines on how to safely celebrate Halloween this year. The list is broken down from low to high risk, which includes trick-or-treating. Some low risk activities include craving pumpkins and having a scavenger hunt at home, which is something Bowers plans to do.

"Under a tree, under the grill, under a leaf, I'm gonna dress her up of course and let her run and you know find the candy," said Bowers.

Doctors say for those still planning to trick or treat, a costume mask cannot be used as protection against Covid-19. They suggest wearing a surgical mask as a replacement, and most importantly keeping safe while enjoying Halloween.

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