Worcester Nixes Halloween Trick-Or-Treating Citing Coronavirus

WORCESTER, MA — It appears Halloween is canceled in Worcester this year.

City officials on Thursday asked residents not to trick-or-treat this Halloween due to the city's designation as a "high-risk" community for coronavirus. Springfield and Lawrence, also high-risk communities, have made similar requests of citizens.

"We think this is a dangerous activity given our red zone designation, and we're asking folks to figure out safer alternatives," City Manager Edward Augustus Jr. said during a news conference Thursday.

The bad news comes as Worcester reports 141 new coronavirus cases over the last week, plus a rise in virus-related hospitalizations. Worcester has been a red "high-risk" community since Sept. 16.

City officials say that large social and family gatherings combined with people letting their guard down is contributing to a rise in cases. Officials urged residents to focus on wearing face coverings, washing hands and practicing social distancing.

Worcester has also seen small outbreaks in other groups. Four players in a youth hockey league tested positive, and three workers at the South High School construction site tested positive. However, the city's colleges may not be contributing to a rise in cases — only five of the 141 new cases were in college students, Augustus said.

Worcester will need to have three consecutive weeks of fewer than 8 cases per day per 100,000 people to be removed from the high-risk list. The designation is also preventing Worcester from moving forward in the state reopening plan. Gov. Charlie Baker is allowing some communities to open businesses like indoor concert venues and arcades, and allowing the expansion of indoor seating in some cases.

Augustus asked residents to focus on safe behavior to move the coronavirus numbers downward, which may allow the city to expand the reopening.

"If we pull together and get those numbers [down], there's a reward at the end of that with a little bit of freedom," Augustus said.