'If Screaming Will Likely Occur, Greater Distancing Is Advised'

You want to know what Halloween 2020 is going to be like? Consider this nugget in a list of do's and don'ts from the CDC: Heading to a "one-way, walk-through haunted forest" is fine, provided you can stay 6 feet apart from others. But then comes this only-in-2020 addendum: "If screaming will likely occur, greater distancing is advised. The greater the distance, the lower the risk of spreading a respiratory virus." Highlights from the guidelines are mostly about what not to do: As in, the CDC says people should skip traditional trick-or-treating this year, along with indoor haunted houses, indoor costume parties, hayrides, and visiting fall festivals outside your community, per USA Today.

As for masks, the agency doesn't want people ditching protective masks for a less safe Halloween mask. Instead, "consider using a Halloween-themed cloth mask." The CDC's "lower risk" suggestions include carving pumpkins at home, or at least outside if with friends, and having a virtual costume contest or a movie night with family. Or this: The agency suggests "doing a Halloween scavenger hunt where children are given lists of Halloween-themed things to look for while they walk outdoors from house to house admiring Halloween decorations at a distance," per CNN. (The agency has backtracked from a big change in thinking on how the virus spreads.)