Rules on serving food to guests

[goatley]

I'm seeing some family members this week. Hurrah. It's been a long time.

Garden meeting. Socially distanced. No one indoors.

Can I serve food and drink? How best to do so?

None of us are particularly. A couple over 65. Two kids in school.. Two adults back at work. But no one is in the shielding category.

Any tips welcomed. Tia.

Based on eating in restaurants, which is deemed safe enough for us to do, serve up to all and place plates on the table in front of them. You may or may not wear gloves - restaurant waiters are doing a mix though all appear to wear masks.
Clean cutlery and crockery in hot soapy water or using a hot dishwasher setting.

I am not that worried for myself. It's my guests who are super careful..

Am going to buy some snacks today - It's only going to be a short do anyway. Maybe I'll buy crisps in multi packs and lob a bag at each person

Thanks for all suggestions

We are now meeting friends as normal in their houses.
We aren't hugging and kissing...
We are sharing food and drinks and canapés.
We live in an area where there have been v few cases. We are hand washing.

Come on everyone , be sensible and you can live your life!!

I haven't yet been in anyone's house. If i go to see my sister I stand on the doorstep to talk.

Can't wait to have dinner with some friends. I think our area is still in a higher risk zone so no one seems to be doing this. (or they just don't want to invite me )

Ds had an end of school garden party with the 6 friends who would have shared a prom car.

We ordered pizza, hand free preparation and contactless delivery. Cans & individual bottles of drinks. Multi packs of crisps. Pack of individually wrapped Magnum ice cream lollies. Then sweets tipped from the pack into individual freshly washed glass bowls. Pack of wipes to wipe down packaging/cans before eating & drinking.

There are very simple ways of addressing things as already said single packets of crisps, individual drinks, individual sized portions (or one person cuts up and spaces out), the old style cocktail forks / cocktail sticks,

Maybe for my family this is more the norm as my nephew is coeliac so we already have things we just do. Not bad habits to be in though.

[quote SengaStrawberry]@labyrinthloafer you said

“The biggest difference is just not touching things others have touched. I definitely would NOT have worried about that last year.“

Why are you worried? Why is touching the same plate as one person you know any more risk than touching items in a supermarket that any random could have touched/breathed/coughed over? The answer is it isn’t. Just wash your hands, don’t touch your face and wash the plates in hot water. Hardly “worrying”.[/quote]
I have always had high hygiene, but let's be honest covid is the first virus where we have been actively advised to avoid touching our faces after touching something a non-family member has touched.

You're being deliberately obtuse imo.

I didnt even realise people were still doing this. Everyone I know has gone back to normal aside from they're all now working from home and wearing masks in shops and on transport!

There actually are rules (or guidance anyway) which include:

“access private gardens externally wherever possible – if you need to go through someone else’s home to do so, avoid touching surfaces and loitering

avoid using toilets in other people’s home (outside of your support bubble) wherever possible and wipe down surfaces as frequently as possible

using disinfectant, wipe down any surfaces or door handles people from outside of your household or support bubble come into contact with if walking through your home

avoid sharing plates and utensils with people outside of your household or your support bubble “

Personally I have
-washed my hands , then washed all the plates glasses and cutlery (even though they were already clean in my cupboards!

• served snacks in one bowl per family
• gave each family serving spoons to use
• cleaned the downstairs bathroom thoroughly beforehand, and asked guests to clean after each use. We have disposable hand towels instead of a towel
• wash hands frequently throughout

Why are you worried? Why is touching the same plate as one person you know any more risk than touching items in a supermarket that any random could have touched/breathed/coughed over?

There is a huge difference between touching something in a supermarket which can then be wiped down & your hands washed, or if the item is fresh fruit/veg washed &/or cooked before eating & touching a plate someone else has touched then immediately touching food & eating it.

We've had a couple of meals in the garden with extended family.

Haven't gone over the top with not touching things someone else has touched. So serving spoons and togs etc all used by families from different households. We all sat separately and no-one went in the house (we have a toilet right by the back door and I'd left some antibac wipes in there if anyone wanted to clean it before or after use). However, none of us are in 'at risk' groups. None of us have underlying health conditions. At that point everyone was either wfh or furloughed, so, again, the risk of any of us having caught the virus was minimal