Raimondo’s Halloween Decision to Hold Ghoulish Event Questioned As Cases Increase

Raimondo’s Halloween Decision to Hold Ghoulish Event Questioned As Cases Increase

This week, Governor Gina Raimondo said she was giving the green light for Halloween in the state, but former Rhode Island Director of Health Michael Fine says that may not be the best idea.

In the past three days, the Rhode Island Department of Health reported more than 500 new cases of the coronavirus.

“I announced that there will be Halloween this year. In times like this, we need fun, levity, and a sense of community more than ever. Like everything else, it will look different. We’ll all need to make some changes and take extra precautions, but we can still make this a fun, safe evening for our kids,” said Raimondo, who like President Donald Trump has been a leading advocate for in-school learning.

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

Dr. Fine questions Raimondo's decision.

"Well, anytime you put people closer together, you’re going to get more virus spread," said Fine. "From a nutrition perspective, I haven't had great enthusiasm for candy for a long time — but boy, wouldn’t this be a good year to invent something, a new tradition. I don’t know what it is, but there must be some way kids can have some fun that doesn’t involve pushing people closer together and distributing nutritionally vacant products."

"I don’t want to be a spoilsport, but we ought to be able to do something that’s fun and respects kids’ needs to get out and deal with the spooky and all that stuff maybe without getting so close together," said Fine. "I’m not the inventor, but you think we ought to get somebody from RISD, they can usually come up with interesting designs or my friends at Big Nazo to do something radical and interesting."
 

Children as Super Spreaders

New data shows that children are super spreaders.

A new study published in the leading research journal Science finds that children can spread coronavirus among themselves “efficiently,” and young adults are the primary source of coronavirus spread. The study, based on the largest contact tracing effort on the globe involving more than 3 million people in India, shows most COVID-19 patients never infected anyone else.

The study unveils that 70% of infected people did not infect any of their contacts, while 8% of patients accounted for 60% of observed new infections — derived mostly from children and young adults.

The study also contradicts the widely held belief that children are unlikely to catch the coronavirus.

 

Raimondo's Big Push

“I want to encourage everyone to be safe and thoughtful about how you celebrate. If you have an older relative at home, or you live in a higher-density community, consider staying home and watching a movie, or doing a virtual pumpkin carving with friends. If you go out and it’s crowded, turn around,” said Raimondo.

Raimondo's guidelines are as follows:

For trick-or-treaters: The first rule of Halloween (and all of our activities) is that if you are feeling sick, you have to stay home. That includes both parents and kids. No amount of candy is worth the risk of getting someone sick. You should check in with your children before you leave the house to make sure they any COVID-19 symptoms.

When you do go trick-or-treating, only go with the people you are already in regular contact with instead of introducing new people into your pod. Make sure you bring hand sanitizer as well to use between houses, and wear a cloth mask. This has to be the same mask you wear normally — your costume mask is not designed to contain airborne particles, and it will not keep you or your neighbors safe.

For those handing out treats: We can't open the door and offer a shared bowl for kids to stick their hands inside. Leave individually wrapped goodie bags or single pieces of candy out for kids to take while you stay inside. Make sure you wash your hands before putting out anything for kids to touch.