You can expect more guidelines on what a safe Halloween could look like this year by the end of this week.

Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry says she’s been getting many questions about Halloween this year – which falls on a Saturday – amid the COVID-19 pandemic, and she says there is work happening on a national level to ensure you can trick-or-treat safely.

“We have been working nationally on some guidance and it should be finished later this week,” she said, noting the national guidelines will be adapted for the province. “Things that we’re looking at are we cannot have those big parties where lots of people are getting together whether it’s a young people partying in costumes or whether it’s the trick or treating,”.

“So we have advice to people on how to do that in a safe way. We’ve also put in some guidance for people who are having a Halloween party.”

Expect the guidelines to include recommendations like staying outside in small groups and having pre-packaged treats ready so that children can trick-or-treat one at a time.

“One of the nice things, of course, with Halloween is that mask-wearing is often part of it,” Henry added, saying masks are encouraged.

Over the last weekend, B.C. reported 267 cases of COVID-19 – the majority again in the Lower Mainland – and three new deaths taking the total number of cases to 8,908, of which 1,302 are active.