Valley health officials give safety tips for Halloween weekend

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Following a year that saw the spirit of Halloween virtually shut down, health officials have declared trick or treating safe again.

"I kind of think of this Halloween as the hybrid Halloween year," says Dr. Daniel Casey Gray with Kaiser Permanente. "We had a skipped year last year and this year, we get to have some fun."

But before the fun can be had, Dr. Gray has some safety tips to protect your family and minimize the risk of infection this Halloween.

"If you are going to have a gathering, I'd encourage it to be outdoors," he said. "Obviously, the spread of COVID-19 is less when you're outdoors."

Even though it's Halloween, Dr. Gray also recommends wearing a facial cover to reduce the spread of the disease.

"Wear an actual COVID-19 mask, not a costume mask," he said. "The costume mask does not substitute for a medical or COVID-19 mask."

Medical experts also remind parents to bring along hand sanitizer for kids to use before they dive into their bag of candy.

"The more hands in a bucket, the more risk we have of spreading germs, so frequent hand sanitizer is probably the best defense you can have," Dr. Gray said.

Setting up candy bowls away from your front door for trick or treaters also brings an additional layer of protection.

The folks at Spirit Halloween say next to some of the more popular costumes, their hottest item this year are social distance no contact candy holders.

You can pick one up for about $10 or $12.

"We had them last year, but I don't think anyone actually warmed up to it," says Derick West. "But now, because of the pandemic, everybody is into the reach out and throw the candy in type of thing."

Public health officials are also warning people of the dangers of wearing decorative contact lenses.

They say without proper consultation, these special contacts can cause serious injury.