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Sukkot is mostly celebrated outside. That doesn’t necessarily make it safe during COVID-19

From October 1, 2020 but still relevant: from The JTA:

" Sukkot, the harvest festival that Jews celebrate each fall, would seem to be designed for the COVID-19 pandemic. After all, it’s typically observed outdoors in temporary structures, allowing for more of the fresh air that is considered one of the easiest ways to reduce transmission of the coronavirus."

"That’s making the large public sukkahs erected in parks, synagogues and streets in many observant communities especially exciting this year. After months of holiday celebrations that have been hampered by pandemic restrictions, Sukkot offered the prospect of a reprieve."

"But public health experts say it’s important not to be lulled into a false sense of safety during Sukkot just because you’re not inside."

"'While technically outdoors, sukkahs are enclosed much more than a typical outdoor setting,' Rabbi Dr. Aaron Glatt wrote recently in a message to his community published by 5 Towns Central addressing questions about the High Holidays. Glatt is the chief of infectious diseases and hospital epidemiologist at Mount Sinai South Nassau on Long Island, as well as an assistant rabbi at the Young Israel of Woodmere, a large Orthodox synagogue in Long Island’s Nassau County."

"When considering socializing in a sukkah, doctors say the same precautions that apply to other social gatherings should be applied: wearing a mask and maintaining at least 6 feet of distance — a challenge in the structures that often are not that much wider across than that."

"'The general rules for mixing [families] at meals apply just as well to a sukkah,” Glatt wrote about sharing meals in a sukkah. “I would be concerned with mixing unless there was adequate separation (at least 6 feet if not more) between family units.'"