Albion cancels Halloween festivities due to spike in COVID-19 cases

This Halloween, children in Albion are trading in their Halloween masks for blue disposable ones.

Trick-or-treating is cancelled in the town of albion due to covid-19.

Fox 55's nico pennisi tells us what this means for residents and how to stay safe this holiday weekend.

Take pkg:this halloween children in albion are trading their halloween masks for disposable ones.

Town manager tena woenker says they're canceling trick-or treating because covid-19 rates are at an all time high in noble county.

"our cases are rising faster than they have the whole pandemic"the county rose from a yellow status to orange on the indiana covid-19 dashboard and now has a positivity rate of 8.62 percent.

In response, the city council decided to axe two popular events.

"people are disappointed but i think the town has made the right decision.

The council has decided to air on the side of safety."albion's annual "trick or treat" and "scare in the square events" normally attract crowds in the hundreds.

Noble county health officer terry gaff says large public gatherings like those are potential super-spreaders and should be avoided.

"since many of them up to 40 or 50 percent are without significant symptoms or minor symptoms then we have to worry about the idea that they may spread it to others inadvertently."still, residents like richard recker are not convinced covid-19 poses a serious threat.

"everybody is going to get sick and i think that the more we restrict people i think you're going to have some backlash for that."community leaders strongly discourage residents from trick or treating in neighboring towns, unless they take necessary precautions."if you plan on participating in the halloween festivities this weekend, here are some guidelines from the cdc: first, try to avoid contact with trick or treaters, try to leave a bucket of candy outside that way you don't have to come in contact with them.

If you are going to come in contact with trick or treaters, make sure to wash your hands and always wear a mask."in albion, i'm nico pennisi, fox 55 news."

We did ask about possible penalties for trick or treating in albion and were told there are none but they hope it will help keep numbers down..saying trick or treating isn't a