Mayor warns Halloween will look a lot different this year due to COVID-19

CHICAGO - Bobbing for apples is not recommended this year, but trick-or-treating is still very much up in the air. 

“It will look a little different. It is a holiday that is centered around wearing masks to begin with,” said Dr. David Zich, Northwestern Medicine.

As a father of two, Dr. Zich is hopeful, but says it is too early to decide.  

“In a month and a half, we may have lower amounts of the virus, it may be at a nadir at that point, or we could be in the middle of a huge outbreak,” said Dr. Zich.

Chicago’s mayor, Lori Lightfoot, says it's a topic of conversation for her office, but she's not ready to announce anything. 

“This is a very different time, and I don’t expect to see mass crowds on trick-or-treating like we have in years past. It’s not safe for children, not safe for adults,” said Mayor Lightfoot.

“Do we all need to dress up like an ER surgeon? Whatever you dress up as, masks should be part of the costume. Well, and it has to be a mask that actually prevents the droplets from coming from the mouth. So even if you have a plastic mask with a mouth hole in it, you're going to need a mask underneath it,” said Dr. Zich.

He says people passing out candy should also be masked and keep meetings brief. 

“If you want it to be ultra-safe, sanitize some of the candy wrappers, and eat that on the day, and the day after the other candy that sits for two days,” said Dr. Zich.

Out west, Los Angeles County health officials played a trick on residents, saying no trick-or-treating will be allowed. Then less than 24 hours later, they reversed that decision and said they are not recommending trick-or-treating.