CDC Director Encourages Halloween Trick-or-Treating

Oct. 25, 2021 -- Families tin observe Halloween this twelvemonth amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Rochelle Walensky, MD, manager of the CDC, said Sunday.

The CDC updated its guidelines for vacation celebrations earlier this month, encouraging families to see harmless ways to stitchery and trim the dispersed of the coronavirus by getting vaccinated, attending outdoor events, and wearing masks.

“I would accidental enactment connected those costumes, enactment outside, and bask your trick-or-treating,” Walensky said connected Fox News Sunday.

But Walenksy besides urged “prevention strategies” owed to the ongoing imaginable for COVID-19 to dispersed during vacation gatherings. The corruption complaint from the contagious Delta variants has dropped by 50% since September, she said, but much than 70,000 cases and 1,500 deaths are inactive being reported each day.

“I wouldn’t stitchery successful ample settings extracurricular and bash screaming similar you are seeing successful those shot games if you are unvaccinated, those kids that are unvaccinated,” she said. “But if you are dispersed retired doing your trick-or-treating, that should beryllium precise harmless for your children.”

Looking up to different upcoming holidays successful November and December, Walensky gave akin advice. She encouraged everyone to get vaccinated, some to support themselves and household members specified arsenic children who aren’t yet eligible to beryllium vaccinated and older relatives who whitethorn look higher risks for terrible disease.

Walensky noted that outdoor activities are safer than indoor activities. She besides said that aggregate households tin gather, though it’s important to guarantee that arsenic galore radical are vaccinated arsenic imaginable to support susceptible individuals who whitethorn not beryllium vaccinated.

“It’s critically important that we gather, that we beryllium unneurotic with household and friends during these holidays,” she said. “And we person the prevention strategies that we cognize enactment to beryllium harmless for those holidays.”

Walensky connected Sunday besides said the CDC is “very carefully” watching a mutated signifier of the Delta variant called “Delta plus.” The U.K. is reporting an expanding fig of cases of the Delta subvariant.

“We perfectly are pursuing the genomic sequencing of this precise carefully,” she said connected NBC’s Meet the Press. “We person had a fistful of cases present successful the United States, but it has not taken disconnected arsenic it has successful the U.K.”

The subvariant, besides known arsenic AY.4.2, makes up 0.1% of cases successful the U.S., according to the latest data from the CDC. It’s not yet wide whether the subvariant is much transmissible than the Delta variant, though cases successful the U.K. person been increasing astatine a complaint that whitethorn suggest that it’s much contagious than Delta.

Despite the maturation of the subvariant elsewhere, Walensky said the CDC doesn’t expect changes successful flights from Europe oregon U.K. The question prohibition that affects astir visitors volition beryllium lifted connected Nov. 8 for those who are afloat vaccinated.

“We’re perfectly pursuing the subject very, precise carefully, but we are not anticipating oregon looking into that close now,” she said.