Ross: COVID has us preparing for a different kind of Halloween

Halloween may be more than a month away, but if you’ve seen the CDC guidelines for keeping it safe, the time to start planning is now.

The fundamental problem here is that Halloween might as well have been designed by viruses.

Roving bands of asymptomatic young people go door to door spreading aerosols as they yell “trick or treat,” collecting piles of candy touched by strangers, then unwrapping it and putting it in their mouths.

Once it was innocent — now it’s terrifying. Plus, the whole mortality theme is a little too close to home.

But if you still want to give it a try, the CDC suggests the following substitutes: an outdoor pumpkin carving party only with people you know, or a neighborhood scavenger hunt with lists of Halloween-themed decorations to look for as you pass by but do not visit your neighbors.

Or instead of a haunted house, an open-air, one-way, walk-through haunted forest where kids can keep six feet apart. Just don’t make it too scary because if there’s screaming, you need more like 20 feet.

And to transfer candy safely, pack grab-n-go goodie bags and place them near the street.

Those are your Halloween suggestions form the CDC. Not very ghoulish, I know. But if you prefer something scarier – Halloween is only three days from the election – just plant yourself at the TV and watch the attack ads.

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