Are we allowed 7 people in our house in different rooms?

[Firefliess]

DSD and her BF have come to stay this weekend. We also have DD and DSS and me and DH at home, so that makes 6 of us. DD wants her BF to stay over tomorrow night. I can't figure out whether that's allowed or not. It would mean 7 people in the house, but in no sense would we be "gathering" DD and her BF would get in late and go straight to her room. Rest of us probably we wouldn't even see him. Is that allowed? Or are people considered to be "gathering" simply by being in the same house? We're in England by the way and not in an area with any local lockdown

Can’t your DD just go and stay with her BF for the weekend? Have him come a different weekend?
No need for all the drama.

How hard can it be to understand. No more 6. 7 comes after 6😳

Yes, I know the diference between a press release and legislation, Xenia! I posted that because it makes reference to the rule of 6 being law.

@Furries

Flipping Nora, how hard is it to count to 6? I mean, I know the rule are crap/divisive/frustrating (delete as applicable).

But I fail to understand how anyone can not count to 6!!

Just in case of doubt - no, it’s not ok. 7 is more than 6.

Well quite. Scotland under 12's don't count. In England it's the rule of 6, hence 6.

So from that law bit it says a gathering in any setting. So 6 people meeting in the garden having no contact with the 4 people inside the house would be okay. As the gathering it is outside.

If a setting includes house and garden its not okay.

On the party thread people were telling OP its not okay to separate garden and home. But if he focus is on a gathering sirelg I can gather with 3 friends in the garden while my family are inside?

Sorry its a different Q to OP (but linked! ) i should start another thread!

I despair when I read threads like this. Why can't people just do what we're being asked to do? I dread the thought of a lockdown like we had earlier in the year.

I'm also amazed by the number of people who seem to think the virus only exists in strangers and that it's outrageous that they shouldn't be socialising with family and hugging them.

I'd say:

a) It is not against the law (there will be no gathering of more than 6)

AND

b) this will not increase the risk of infection/spreading the virus (the BF will see no-one he wouldn't see anyway, he will be using a separate bathroom, the DSD can do the things that require touching e.g. open doors).

It is therefore not a loophole. Nor is it the fault of people who choose to do things that do not spread the virus, nor break the law, if the cases continue to rise and further restrictions are introduced. This is just the government placing the blame on individuals (we have to introduce restrictions because YOU didn't behave) rather than accepting any blame for themselves (if the cases continue to rise despite current restrictions, perhaps it is because our current restrictions don't work/don't make sense/came in too late/would work in theory but don't because we've messed up test track and trace).

Yes some rules make sense, and some people who break those rules are contributing to the rise of cases - this is true too. But how people can say that people choosing an action that doesn't increase risk AND doesn't even break the rules, are to blame for what is ultimately the goverment's failure, I don't understand.

PimlicoJo I agree. No-one is enjoying this, some of the rules don't make much sense, but it's not going to kill us to follow them for a few weeks in the hope it helps the situation.

I understand OP. It is 'gatherings' not 'people in a building.

@PatriciaPerch Children under 12 are not exempt from the rule of 6 in England.

Yes some rules make sense, and some people who break those rules are contributing to the rise of cases - this is true too. But how people can say that people choosing an action that doesn't increase risk AND doesn't even break the rules, are to blame for what is ultimately the goverment's failure, I don't understand

I agree with this is some ways (especially the gov. trying to turn the blame on us), but I do think that although on an individual level breaking the rules might not pose much risk, if we collectively decide not to follow the rules or to find loopholes, then that could lead to a big jump in cases.

I despair when I read threads like this. Why can't people just do what we're being asked to do?

Haha

OP is doing what she has been asked to do. She is also trying to clarify the difference between 'gatherings' and 'inside a building'

@ChodeOfChodeBall

If everyone follows the rules, we will get through this crisis quicker. All the people complaining about xmas being cancelled, well maybe it wouldn't have been if more people could follow basic instructions.

Government say gatherings of no more than 6. 6 people in one house count as a gathering, whether or not they are in the same room.

6 people in one house count as a gathering, whether or not they are in the same room.

But they are not gathering. They would be in the attic room with their own bathroom. That is not gathering.

@emptyshelvesagain

Six people in one house count as a gathering, whether or not they have their own en-suite or not.

There was a Q&A thing on the BBC news app the other day and someone asked a similar question, OP. It was something like 'if 3 kids are asleep upstairs and 4 adults meet downstairs is that ok?'. The answer was that it was ok, as long as the seven didn't actually mix - the rule of six covers socialising/mingling, not being in the same building. But you'd have to be absolutely sure that more than six people weren't in the same room at any point.

Six people in one house count as a gathering, whether or not they have their own en-suite or not.

Can you point me towards your source?

I should've said unless you're in a local lockdown area, when the rules about households mixing may be different

@PinkkLady

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

I share your frustration.

[quote Purpledaisychain]@emptyshelvesagain

Six people in one house count as a gathering, whether or not they have their own en-suite or not.[/quote]
This isn't true.

The rule of six covers socialising/mixing. If you can be certain that people will stick to their rooms and not mix it's fine. But I appreciate that in practice ensuring that will happen may not be so easy.

The covid regulations appear to define a gathering as 'two or more people are present together in the same place in order to engage in any form of social interaction with each other, or to undertake any other activity with each other'.

Not sure how you can gather and socially interact with a person that you cannot see and are never in the same room.

The OP could even argue that she doesn't even know that the boyfriend is in the house, if she's in the kitchen and they enter the house and go upstairs without saying hello to her, for example.

6 is the total number not 7. Why do people endlessly try and twist it all.

So when my cleaners (or workmen) come to work in my house does our house count as their workplace so we can have them and our whole family in the house at the same time (so >6 people)? Or does the rule of 6 always apply to houses even if they are functioning as both home and workplaces simultaneously?

Normally the cleaners come when the DC are at school so this hasn't arisen yet but in the holidays shall I have to send the eldest out while the cleaners are in? In reality I usually take the DC out so they aren't in the cleaners way but I wonder what the interpretation of the law is?

It's a no but we will have 8 people in our house for a few hours ( 4 of them kids under 10 ) today. They really should standardise the advice, we aren;'t that bothered because in Scotland kids under 12 aren't included and in NI we'd be exempt under bubbling with one other hse hold.