BARRIE, ONT. -- Dr. Michael Lisi, the chief of staff at Collingwood General and Marine Hospital, chats with CTV's Madison Erhardt about some techniques to keep trick-or-treating a safe activity.
Madison: With Halloween a few weeks away, do you feel it's safe for children to be trick-or-treating?
Dr. Lisi: Dr. Theresa Tam with the public health agency of Canada has stated that trick-or-treating for Halloween is an option if safeguards are put in place and if local public health restrictions permit it.
I think children should always be practising the three W's.
So, wearing a mask which could be a great addition to a Halloween costume, as well as keeping your distance, and then washing your hands with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer on the road.
They should really remain outdoors as it's 20 times safer than being indoors.
Homeowners should also be handing out individually wrapped candy at a distance or leave it in pickup bags outside the front door.
Any candy that is collected should be put aside for a few days as a routine precaution.
Madison: We see a lot of people swapping masks for face shields. Are shields as effective as the mask in fighting the virus?
Dr. Lisi: No, they are not.
Recent studies using supercomputers out of Japan showed that a mask was much better at protecting COVID-19 then a shield alone. A shield can enhance the protective effect of the mask when it's used together as we do in healthcare settings, but it should not replace the face mask.
Madison: What do people still need to understand about the virus?
Dr. Lisi: The COVID situation is getting worse across the northern hemisphere and in Canada, the U.S., and Europe. As people move indoors due to the cold weather, it is really essential that people reduce their social contacts to an absolute minimum.
Practise the three W's and download the COVID app to protect themselves and their families.
