A new website can help families nationwide gauge the risk of trick-or-treating this Halloween, as well as offering alternative activities to keep the holiday fun and entertaining amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

A number of retailers and organizations with a vested interest in the holiday, such as Hershey’s, Spirit Halloween, the National Retail Foundation, the Halloween & Costume Association and others, joined forces with the Harvard Global Health Institute to create halloween2020.org. 

The site offers an interactive map that allows visitors to see the number of coronavirus cases per 100,000 citizens in any county in the country, based on a seven-day average. The counties are graded by color, with green having the lowest saturation (less than one case per 100,000) and red indicating the highest (25 cases per 100,000 or more). It’s easy to select a county, see its color and factor the spread of COVID-19 in the area into the decision to take the kids on a costumed romp through the neighborhood.

The interactive map lets you check COVID cases in every county in the nation. (Screenshot)

In addition to the helpful map, the site also provides activities that are appropriate for each level of color-coded risk. Trick-or-treating is fine in green and yellow counties, for instance, but as the cases climb through the color spectrum, more socially distant activities are encouraged. For counties with an orange designation, however, drive-by trick-or-treating is recommended, as well as socially distanced “candy hunts” where the kids don’t come into direct contact with others. Trick-or-treating isn’t endorsed at all in the red counties, where the site recommends activities like small family parties, movie nights and creative candy stations.

This year’s Halloween will undoubtedly be unlike any other in memory, but that doesn’t mean revelers of all ages can’t have spooky and sugary fun while keeping safe.