The city of Milwaukee will not be designating a specific time to allow trick-or-treating in 2020.
Mayor Tom Barrett said on Tuesday that the activity carries a high risk of spreading COVID-19 and therefore cannot be approved.
“So we will not be designating a time, as we traditionally do, for Sunday afternoon, nor will we be having the support for the neighborhood budget that you see in different parts of the city,” Barrett said.
Interim Commissioner of Health Maralina Jackson says the city’s health department does not support door-to-door trick-or-treating of any kind.
“Whether it be in any traditional time, as we have known it to be in the past, or any individual neighborhood times that we know happen sometimes the day before or the night of,” Jackson said.
“The activity of door-to-door trick-or-treating is considered high risk, therefore not safe, and so we do not support that.”
Mayor Barrett did say, however, that police will not be used to try and stop children who are trick-or-treating.
“We have not used law enforcement for any of the orders that we have used thus far. We think it’s an education issue more than anything else,” Barrett said.
“So I don’t anticipate that we’re going to have police out there looking for trick-or-treaters.”
The city has provided a list of alternative activities, which includes carving pumpkins at home and hosting virtual costume constests.