The following information comes from the Province of Manitoba.
At this time, Manitoba families are encouraged to reduce the number of close contacts outside of their households, and avoid closed-in or crowded spaces.
Manitobans are also strongly encouraged to focus on the fundamentals to help stop the spread of COVID-19. This includes:
- Staying home if you’re sick, even if your symptoms are only mild.
- Washing/sanitizing your hands frequently.
- Covering your cough.
- Practicing physical distancing when you are with people outside of your household.
- Wearing a mask in indoor public spaces in situations where you cannot physically distance, or as required by public health orders.
Trick-or-treating and Halloween activities
- Household members who feel unwell should not take part. Use the COVID-19 screening tool or the COVID-19 screening questions before participating in activities.
- If you start to feel unwell when out, return home as soon as you can.
- Be aware of local Pandemic Response System levels and consider alternatives to trick or treating as appropriate to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
- Wash or sanitize your hands frequently.
Physical distancing
• Limit contact with non-household members. Trick-or-treat within your household.
• Traditional greetings such as handshakes, kissing and hugging should be avoided.
• Maintain a two-metre distance from people outside of your household or extended household group. Take turns and wait until any group ahead is gone.
• Decorate your household and yard for distance viewing.
Masking
• Wear a non-medical mask when physical distancing cannot be maintained or is unpredictable.
• Consider incorporating a non-medical mask into your costume (while making sure your eyes are unobstructed for safety).
• However, having a costume mask on top of a non-medical mask may not be safe.
• Wear a non-medical mask to distribute candy.
• Remember, children under the age of two should not wear a non-medical mask. Click here for more information on proper masks use.
Hand hygiene
• Follow proper hand hygiene and respiratory etiquette including:
• Wash your hands often with soap and water. Scrub for at least 15 seconds.
• Use a Health Canada-approved alcohol based hand sanitizer when hands are not visibly dirty and handwashing is not possible.
• Avoid touching your face, mouth, nose, and eyes.
• Cover your coughs and sneezes, and then wash/ sanitize your hands after.
Treat distribution
- Where possible, provide individual contactless candy distribution. Use tools (e.g. tongs) to distribute candy at a distance.
- Provide individual bags and avoid self-service such as a common candy bowl
- Supervise, as needed, while maintaining physical distancing
- Provide wrapped, store bought treats only
- Indoor or mall-based trick-or-treating is permitted where physical distancing is maintained and shared contact items are minimized or eliminated.
- Note that changing public health orders and Pandemic Response System may limit or restrict these activities. Check with the site before you make your plans.
Other activities
- Consider only planning activities that allow people to continue to maintain physical distancing. Avoid activities where respiratory droplets may be exchanged, such as bobbing for apples.
- Pumpkin carving and decorating where individual pumpkins and tools are provided and individuals practice good hand hygiene, maintain appropriate physical distancing, and adhere to any current gathering size restrictions.
- A costume parade where physical distancing can be maintained
- Haunted houses/ghost tours/corn mazes/pumpkin patches may be permitted, depending on local restrictions under current public health orders and the Pandemic Response System. However, the following guidelines must be followed:
- organizers, staff, or attending public must self-screen using the COVID-19 screening tool or the COVID-19 screening questions, and stay home if unwell
- manage line-ups carefully to ensure physical distancing.
- minimize time indoors
- consider online bookings with timed arrivals with flexible cancellation policies
- consider contactless payment
- recommend all attendees (e.g. staff, volunteers, public, etc.) wear a non-medical mask, especially indoors
- follow store/event policy
- maintain 2 metre distance from persons who are not in your household group
- employees, for example in haunted houses, must maintain physical distancing from guests
- provide enough time and space between tour groups to maintain physical distancing
- clean and disinfect frequently-touched surfaces between groups
- encourage frequent hand hygiene
- any food or beverage services must follow the appropriate provincial guidelines
- any other activities within the event venue must follow the appropriate provincial guidelines