Coronavirus Watch: Is Halloween canceled?

Halloween as we knew it is pretty much canceled. But there are still some ways to have fun. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released updated guidelines  highlighting different levels of risk for Halloween activities:

• Lower risk: Pumpkin carving at home or outside at a distance from others; virtual costume contest; or a scavenger hunt in or around your home rather than going house-to-house.
• Moderate risk: Leaving grab-and-go goodie bags outside for trick-or-treaters; having a small, outdoor and socially distant costume parade; or visiting a one-way, socially distant haunted forest with masks (greater distance is advised "if screaming will likely occur").
• Highest risk: Traditional trick-or-treating, indoor costume parties or haunted houses.

This is Tuesday's Coronavirus Watch from the Paste BN Network. Here are the most significant headlines, as of 2:30 p.m. ET:

• The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus surpassed 200,000 on Tuesday, less than eight months after the first American fatality. 
• President Donald Trump used his speech to the U.N. General Assembly to call on the global organization to hold Beijing accountable for the coronavirus pandemic, saying China "unleashed this plague onto the world." 
• The KN95 mask is meant to filter out 95% of aerosol particles. However, a nonprofit patient safety organization issued an alert against the masks after an analysis found that up to 70% of the KN95s imported from China did not meet these filtration standards. 
• NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell says he has no qualms about harshly penalizing coaches who violate the NFL’s protocols mandating that they wear face masks while roaming the sidelines. The NFL on Monday fined three coaches at $100,000 each for disregarding the policy. 

Today's numbers: New case records were set in Minnesota, Montana, Utah, Wisconsin, Wyoming and Puerto Rico in the week ending Monday. The U.S. has reported more than 6.8 million cases, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Globally, there have been more than 31.4 million cases and 966,000 fatalities. 

As always, thank you for subscribing. We appreciate you trusting the Paste BN Network with this information. 

– Rachel Aretakis, breaking news editor, @raretakis