Is Halloween going ahead this year? Here are the Trick or Treat rules for Mosman residents.

This year’s Halloween falls on a weekend for the first time in five years, which means local kids – and the inevitable influx of visitors – will be on a number of Mosman streets to Trick or Treat.

The spanner in the spider web however, is that Covid-19 restrictions mean some activities could incur a fine scary enough to frighten the most ghoulish of ghosts.

Here’s our breakdown of what’s on and off for Halloween 2020 in Mosman:

If the level of community coronavirus transmission remains low, NSW Health says it is “supportive” of Halloween festivities going ahead, but “with some caveats”, as limits on gatherings across the state are being increased to 30 people.

To keep Halloween celebrations outdoors, residents should host a front-yard rather than a front-door event.

For trick-or-treating, a supervising adult is advised to join children from the same household, instead of having groups of children moving about together.

“Keep it local and put effort into decorating the front yard, rather than focusing on well-known ‘treat streets’,” a NSW Health spokesperson said.

“Provide closed packaging for treats and instead of communal lolly bowls, consider other ways of distributing treats, like strewn along the front fence.

“And have hand sanitiser at the front gate.”

Maintaining a 1.5-metre distance between people from different households is recommended and children “should not share costume face masks”.

COVID-safe tips FOR hanDING out treats

• If you have any symptoms of COVID-19 over Halloween, stay home, don’t receive Halloween visitors and get tested immediately
• If you are self-isolating, don’t answer the door to trick-or-treaters
• Make it a front-yard event, not at the front-door of your house. Keep your celebrations outdoors and get creative in decorating the front yard
• Only hand out individually wrapped treats
• Don’t use communal lolly bowls. Consider other ways of distributing treats such as hanging them individually on your fence, front gate or up your driveway
• Offer hand sanitiser at your front gate or fence
• You may wish to avoid people knocking on your door by putting up a sign that says “We are home but due to COVID-19, we are distancing. Please take one, Happy Halloween”
• Remember, you can only have 20 people on your property at one time.

COVID-safe tips FOR trick-or-treatING

• If you have any symptoms of COVID-19 this Halloween, stay home and give trick-or-treating a miss this year. Get tested immediately
• Keep it local by staying in your suburb rather than going to well-known “treat streets” that attract crowds
• Celebrate outside, don’t go to people’s front door
• Stay in small household groups (for example a supervising adult and children from the same household) rather than groups of young people together. Remember, no more than 30 people can gather outside in a public place
• Stay 1.5 meters away from people you don’t live with
• Only take treats that are individually wrapped
• Use a disposable bag to collect your treats, and dispose of it appropriately afterwards
• Don’t share your treats with others from different households
• Don’t share costumes or costume face masks
• Carry hand sanitiser with you and use it often, especially after touching common surfaces.