Shanghai Disneyland will close in effort to contain coronavirus

Well, I agree with you in the specific, but (much like the Disenyland discussion) I interact with probably 10x more strangers on Halloween than I do any other 24 hr perios in the year. Even if the chance of transmission is miniscule, you’re talking about literally hundreds or thousands of times more (quick, masked, outdoor) interactions between people in normally separate social circles and if the chance of transmission is non-zero, that could be significant.

That said, I’d feel pretty safe taking my kids trick-or-treating.

I'm doing take-out food at least twice a week at this point, because I'm tired of making the same four things I know how to make. We don't really go into stores because we really didn't that often in the first place with curbside pickup. But heck, we socially distant "hang out" with our neighbors on the front porch, and they have an immuno-compromised child with MD. The only things really off the table are things that are off the table, like international travel and cruising. We're also not going to have a party with a vat of mai tai's.

I don't really encounter the shut-ins.

Throughout this entire situation due to my husband's job my family has been put in more "danger" than others whether we wanted to be or not. He's worked overtime, except when quarantined, so that others can be "safe" (as in you call 911 and someone comes) right out there dealing with sick people that he must be much closer to than 6 foot to do his job so after months of this honestly if someone ever comes up to me in person to tell me my family is "selfish" or "part of the problem" for going places and doing things at this point it will be hard not to punch someone. We never had the option of barricading ourselves off completely from the world. Not that we would have but still we never had a choice. Even now I'm back to work and mandated to wear a mask which I'm doing horrible with and barely make it through the day but the student I work with is not wearing one because of their disability/refusal to let anyone put one of and they blow raspberries at me half the day so I have someone spraying their spittle at me point blank while I'm suffering with claustrophobia and unable to concentrate because my face is covered because we can't have me breathing on anyone, can we? I'm getting spit on all day but if I complain about having to wear a mask and how miserable I am I'm the selfish bad guy.

We normally drive into the village closest to us for Halloween. Most of the kids walking around all go to the same schools which are currently in session 5 days unless their families chose remote so I don't really see much risk there. Most of these kids are already together anyway. My youngest is too old to really trick or treat but may go out in costume to add ambiance just because last year was a bust because of weather and he likes his costume. Maybe we'll sit on the corner and hand out candy. As of now our trick or treat is a go.

wahoo skipper said:

Fall is just arriving and the numbers are not going in the right direction in a lot of the country. Anything we can do today or in the weeks ahead to prevent us from having to go back towards lockdowns is worth considering in my opinion.

The idea that we would go back to any type of stay at home suggestion (I refuse to call it a lockdown or quarantine when at no time was I prevented from going to hit up my local Krispy Kreme at 2am if I so desired) at this stage of the game is almost laughable. I still see people in my social media feed screaming for a complete and total lockdown and a closure of all businesses. We know how to keep ourselves safe in a way that we didn't in March and April. That's not to say people will. But to do any sort of phony lockdown at this stage of the game wouldn't serve any real purpose.

Things don't look so hot across the pond. Looks like more restrictions may be incoming.

"Coronavirus cases are rising so rapidly in Europe that the World Health Organization warned last week that there was a “very serious situation” unfolding in the region, calling the resurgence in infections a “wake up call.”

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/21/europe-coronavirus-latest-more-rest...-days.html

Why issuing guidelines for the holidays won't matter

Brett, not sure what happened with your link, but it takes us to an article about Ohio folks booing Dewine at a Trump rally. Unless that was the point...which as an Ohioan, actually makes sense.

Tying together what everyone has said....it would seem that at this point nearly everyone has made up their mind on what is safe, what is not, what's OK to do, and what is not. I just can't envision anything anyone says making a damn bit of difference at this point.

If you talk to anyone with a degree in Public Health, they will tell you that the most important thing in a public health crisis (i.e., a pandemic) is the careful, calculated, and consistent delivery of information and direction from leadership. It's no different than children looking up to their parents for guidance when a tornado alarm goes off; those that don't know will look to those who they think do know for guidance.

Minds were made up a long time ago.

But there are quite a few minds that were made up to “do what the public health officials say is okay” so it would be helpful if the public health officials gave some guidance.

You're not wrong; but on a national level the public health officials are not being allowed to in a pure sense. They are consistently undermined.

In Ohio, this is what Dewine got right (at first); he deferred to the public health experts and said...."look, im just a politician....listen to this woman (Amy Acton)."

Yes, that was the point. DeWine has exceeded any and all expectations and is met with boos from the people that helped elect him for simply suggesting they wear a mask while attending a public gathering in the midst of a pandemic.

That Donald Trump was elected president tells the world everything you need to know about how Americans think, and how they value expertise.

And he's now going to get three SCOTUS picks in one term. Awesome.

So the CDC released updated guidelines for Halloween. And here's the ultra-useful guidance we've been looking for:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/holiday...#halloween

TL;DR -

Ohio Department of Health issued guidance as well:

https://odh.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/odh/media-center/odh-news-relea...n-guidance

Even with all of this guidance, I will still be offering candy on Halloween and the only way to get it will be to come to our door and take it from the same skeleton tray we've used for the past decade.

I will not be leaving it in a bowl or at the curb or lying in small piles in the yard. However, some sort of air cannon or catapult to fire full-size candy bars at small children does sound like a good alternative.

I've been scouring the Internet for just such a device.

You've got time to build one!

Way too much work. Air cannon would be good though. Cavs have to have a couple laying around they aren't using. May be able to get some extrat-shirts to fire out too.

https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/ixleej/my_solution_to_a_soc...halloween/

Still seems less fun that actively launching candy at high velocity towards small children.

On the other hand, beer.

GoBucks89 said:
Ohio Department of Health issued guidance as well:

https://odh.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/odh/media-center/odh-news-relea...n-guidance

Oh, wow, I didn't realize they issued a press release to point out that the first version of their PDF actually encouraged people to violate 18 USC 1725. That's right, folks, remember, since we're in a pandemic, no normal rules apply, so go ahead and violate Federal law in the interest of a "safer" Halloween. Fits in nicely with the consistent overstepping of legal authority at the State and local levels that's been going on since March.

At this point DeWine deserves the boos he got. I'm not sure when it changed, but at some point his actions stopped making sense and started to sound like he's just trying to make things difficult. I think he lost me when the "re-opening" orders got way too granular for seemingly arbitrary reasons. I'm not a fan of the early last-call (and I can't remember the last time I ordered a drink at a bar, so it's not as if it really affects me that much) and so much of what is being done now seems so arbitrary and not at all rooted in science or sense...not at all like it was back in June and July...

--Dave Althoff, Jr.