Editorial: Scary out there this Halloween

Halloween is a high point on the calendar each year, an occasion filled with memories, traditions and just plain fun. It also occupies an important spot as the curtain-raiser for the entire holiday season, which may be why it’s particularly risky as a coronavirus pandemic activity.

And this year it falls on Saturday, which compounds the problem, with friends and family more tempted by social gatherings, and available to join them. Deputy Chief John McCarthy of the Honolulu Police Department finds it a little scary, and not for the usual reasons.

“This is one way to set back everything we’ve worked for,” McCarthy said, and he’s exactly right. McCarthy was the guest on Wednesday’s “Spotlight Hawaii” webcast streaming on staradvertiser.com. He was making a reference to Oahu residents having endured some restrictions and earning their way into a less restrictive “Tier 2” in the city’s reopening strategy.

Too much conventional partying — revelers packed together, family groups trick-or-treating through neighborhoods — is being firmly discouraged. It could easily spark another spike in the island’s subsiding tally of COVID-19 infections. And the upshot won’t be fun for anyone.

One potential “hot” zone for this is expected to be Waikiki, where traditionally hotels and tourism vendors host activities for their guests and the public.

Police officials are trying to discourage people from heading into the visitor enclave arguing that it’s not worth the risk, anyway, McCarthy said. Many hotels and businesses remain shuttered, he added, describing Waikiki as “still a ghost town.”

That said, HPD realizes there will be some who are unconvinced by that and determined to check it out. So it is good that there will be police there to remind people of the rules.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Mayor Kirk Caldwell also highlighted hotel plans to scan for violators among ways to deter risky activities.

The mayor also dispatched letters to executives of 47 Oahu hotels that are open and seeking cooperation in enforcing the rules now in effect. That means ensuring physical distance among attendees, good sanitation and mask-wearing.

It also means using the enforcement tools available to the public and hotel staff if things get out of hand. The hotline is 723-3900, or people can use the online reporting form (www.honolulupd.org/contact-us) and select “COVID-19 Enforcement” from the Contact drop-down menu.

State and county elected officials are worried about the possibility of a “superspreader” event, and with good reason. Everyone on Oahu should share the goal of remaining within Tier 2, but backsliding could occur easily if the community lets down its guard and infections tick up toward 100 per day.

There are alternative ways to celebrate that people should embrace. One creative option has been the drive-in haunted “house” designed by the nonprofit Habilitat and staged at Aloha Stadium. Some shopping centers have switched to virtual events, and neighborhoods have planned drive-by spectacles, too.

Doing this holiday old-school is not a viable plan. Families should set aside usual practices for 2020.

“I’d rather sacrifice Halloween, then have a better Thanksgiving and holiday season,” said McCarthy.

It’s hard to argue with that, Oahu. Reaching Tier 3, with two weeks averaging under 50 daily new infections, and a rate under 2.5% of tests being positive, would enable social gatherings of up to 10.

It would allow for modestly festive Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s celebrations. And after the dismal year we’ve all had, that prospect shines like a beacon — or, in this case, a Halloween jack-o’-lantern. It’s best we all follow the light.