Hershey’s Launches Interactive Map for Safe 2020 Trick-or-Treating

Usually, when Hershey's makes Halloween news, we all sit up and take notice because more than likely something tasty is on the way.

Sure enough, in 2020, the candy giant is unveiling fun new treats like chocolate bars with glow-in-the-dark wrappers, Reese' Peanut Butter Franken-cups, Cookies 'n Creme Fangs, Vampire Kisses, and Kit Kat Witch's Brew wafers.

But along with all of the new sweet treats, Hershey's is also doing something they've never done before - telling us where they believe it is safest to trick-or-treat this Halloween during the COVID-19 pandemic.

With a little more than five weeks to go before Halloween, the company, in conjunction with Harvard Global Health Institute, has launched an interactive map that indicates where the risk of coronavirus is greatest in counties across the United States.

Individual counties fall in one of four color-coded categories, based on the number of daily new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people over a seven-day period:

• Counties in green have fewer than one new positive test.
• Counties in yellow have between one and ten new positive tests.
• Counties in orange have between ten and 25 new positive tests.
• Counties in red have more than 25 new positive tests.

In South Dakota, red counties dominate the map, as the state ranks fourth overall with 32.4 new cases per 100,000 over the past week. In all, seven states (ND, WI, AR, SD, IA, OK, UT) all fall in the red category.

Four South Dakota counties are currently averaging more than 100 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people:

• Tripp - 133.9
• Gregory - 133.1
• Jerauld - 120.6
• Hughes - 110.0

The only county in the Mount Rushmore State to get a 'green' classification is Harding County in the extreme Northwest corner of the state, which has only recorded three positive COVID-19 tests since the pandemic began.

The state's only 'yellow' spot on the map is Hamlin County, which has only averaged seven new cases per 100,000 people over the past seven days.20