Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry has confirmed national guidelines for celebrating Halloween during the COVID-19 pandemic should be released by the end of this week.
Teams have been working to adapt those guidelines for British Columbia, says Henry, who has been receiving "many, many questions" about the holiday.
While she couldn't confirm exactly what residents will be advised to do on Oct. 31, she did hint at a few of the major themes, including the hosting of parties and
"Things that we're looking at are, you know, we cannot have those big parties where lots of people are getting together, whether it's young people partying in costumes or whether it's the trick or treating, so we have advice to people about how to do that in a safe way."
She says the "safe way" includes being outside, only hosting small groups, not requiring people to sing for treats and pre-packaging treats so children can approach one at a time for safety.
The guidelines include advice for people who consider Halloween a very important holiday, says Henry.
"One of the nice things of course with Halloween is that mask wearing is often part of it, so we would encourage that as well."
