Just weeks after a coronavirus outbreak among the first family and many in their orbit, the White House will welcome visitors for its annual Halloween event this weekend.
The White House grounds will open Sunday to “ghosts, fairies, superheroes, tiny goblins and other costumed trick-or-treaters,” per a release from first lady Melania Trump’s office. The gates will open to military families and schoolchildren – accompanied by parents – as well as frontline workers from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m.
President Donald Trump and the first lady will greet trick-or-treaters during the event. The grounds will feature festive decor, and a number of agencies and departments will be offering activities for kids, like model rockets on display and paper airplanes from the Department of Transportation.
This year, the event will be held with health and safety precautions in place, per the White House’s release. Capacity is limited, and guests over the age of 2 must wear masks, as do personnel. Social distancing measures will be in place, and any staff passing out candy must wear gloves.
The departments will also be using “no-touch approach” in their areas while distributing items.
The event comes about a month after several guests who attended a September 26 Rose Garden event held in honor of Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett tested positive for COVID-19, including Trump and the first lady.
The outbreak included a number of high profile people in White House circles, including White House adviser Stephen Miller and press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, as well as non-public-facing staff like housekeepers, and White House reporters.
The administration’s handling of the outbreak prompted Democrats from the D.C. region to issue a statement voicing alarm at the “casual disregard for the health of our community, including constituents who work at the White House as staff, agents, or officers of the United States Secret Service, journalists of the White House Correspondents Association, and the general public.”
Both the president and first lady have since recovered, and the White House recently extended an invitation to Congress to tour the site of the event, which Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert, called a “superspreader event.”
For the rest of the District, D.C. Health issued COVID-19 guidance for Halloween earlier this month, and categorized traditional trick-or-treating as a high-risk activity.
Grab-and-go trick or treating is safer, but still risky, according to the city, while other options like having “trick-or-treat candy hunt” with members of your household or virtual costume parties are among the safest.
