Cats, devils and gladiators meandered around Court Street and Mill Street on Saturday, but in far smaller crowds than during previous “HallOUween” celebrations.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Ohio University students celebrated Halloween with face masks and smaller gatherings.
Mia Darnell, a junior studying communication sciences and disorders, said Mill Street is normally packed with people party-hopping up and down the street, but things were different this year.
“You had to go (to parties) with friends you’ve already been around, because it’s not like a usual Halloween where you’d walk into any house on Mill,” Darnell said. “We would normally just walk down the street and join a party, but on these weekends, since COVID, you kinda have to stay with people you’ve been around and people you know.”
Out of fear of being shut down by police, students cannot have the same large gatherings they once did.
“You can’t have parties, or else the police will come and shut them down,” Julia Mattox, a sophomore studying marketing, said.
Despite the existence of an ongoing global pandemic, students believe that they’re being smarter than students at other schools.
“I would say that (OU’s Halloween) is pretty good compared to some other schools,” Mattox said. “Like if you look at their parties and whatnot.”
Others believe that because there have been ongoing parties all year, there may not be a dramatic rise in COVID-19 cases.
“I don’t know if (the number of COVID-19 cases) will rise, because parties here have been going way before Halloween and everything,” Andrew Lau, a sophomore studying mechanical engineering, said. “You know, I think it’s come to a point where it’s finally gotten to an equilibrium.”
