Rule of six having friends over question

[BumbleBee5w]

If I had a night in with 5 friends while my children were in bed and husband upstairs with them would that be breaking rules? With absolute certainly no meeting of more than 6 people. We have a downstairs loo sp no going upstairs from guests....

I'd say your husband being there, even if upstairs is 7. So according to the guidelines, yes you would be breaking the rules.

Yes breaking the rules. It’s 6 in your house/garden at one time.

Technically you'd be breaking the rules yes but honestly, I would if your husband was upstairs.

Technically it's a rule break. In reality I can't see the harm

I'm in England btw so kids are counted. Makes it 10. So annoying as the distance between everyone would mean it would be incredibly unlikely to transmit anything

Technically yep you would.

The rule is 6 in the house at any one time. Annoying maybe. But that’s the law.

I'd just love a nice evening with friends . It would be a million times safer than going out to a restaurant. Gaaaaaaaah

The reasoning behind the rule of 6 is that the virus transmits more inside houses where you cannot distance 2 metres apart. They say that’s where the cases are rising from. Transmission in restaurants is very small (apparently).

Some lawyer did question this - the bit about kids upstairs asleep. As they wouldn’t be part of a “gathering”. I’ll see if I can find the article.

I find it all rather ambiguous..
The rules states 'you must not meet in a group of more than 6'
So based on that surely you can have group of 6 downstairs and a group of 6 upstairs providing they don't meet or mix?

@BetterEatCheese
@daisydukes26
The OP is asking whether it is breaking the rules to have her friends plus husband and children in the house. That's all. It is people like you who say you would break the rules or you can't see the harm in it who are causing the problems we have with Covid. If your views/behaviour were to be replicated across the UK there would be so many rule breakers and covid would overwhelm us as a country.

That would not be breaking the rules. The rule is no more than 6 people gathering for the purpose of social interaction. Nothing mentioned at all about the number of people in a house at any one time.

But maybe look at the number of cases per 100k in your area and how fast they’re increasing and decide whether it’s sensible?

@Itsabeautifuldayheyhey I totally get that. And I agreed it was a rule break.

I just honestly can't see how it's a problem.

So let's say DH takes the kids out for the night, so no rules are broken. Friend A has COVID without knowing. She gives it to OP. OP is going to pass it to DH anyway, surely.

Him staying upstairs with the DC is no different to him not being in the house.

Just do it. If they're upstairs and you're downstairs the group won't interact and won't be more than six. How else would large families be able to manage it? Everyone thinking this shouldn't happen-if you had a family of six would you really not see anyone else for an indefinite amount of time or would you have people go upstairs/out so you can seee your friends and have a bit of normal life?

I don’t know if restaurants are safer or not. The government thinking is apparently that in public people are more likely to keep apart, not hug etc. But in a restaurant if you book a table for 6 you’re likely to all be very close together - there’s not room for social distancing between members of a group. In your house - well, I could probably manage 4 people sat 2m apart! But not 6.

I think it’s a really bad idea. Five different people who have all been mixing in different circles. They will be touching your furniture. It’s these such indoor gatherings which are causing the spread.

This is why covid is spreading. Meeting with people. Its allowed but its not wise. I completely understand why you want to though.

I would.. Often a weekend when inlaws come there's 7 in the house. However my teen is in his room. He rarely comes out. We have a large open plan lounge, diner so spread enough. But the dcs don't distance from GPs anyway.
Tbf even if teen wasnt upstairs I'd still do it.
. I'd also do what your planning too!

@JellyBabiesSaveLives

I don’t know if restaurants are safer or not. The government thinking is apparently that in public people are more likely to keep apart, not hug etc. But in a restaurant if you book a table for 6 you’re likely to all be very close together - there’s not room for social distancing between members of a group. In your house - well, I could probably manage 4 people sat 2m apart! But not 6.

Yes I haven't seen much evidence of people social distancing around the same table at restaurants. If people were doing it I would expect to see some tables with large gaps between people, or perhaps two people at opposite ends of large table, but on the occasions I have been to a restaurant I didn't notice any of that, even when there was a group of 5 or 6 adults all aged around 50 ish who were unlikely to be from the same household.

I would.

You'd be a total of 10 in the house. I'd meet in a restaurant instead. That way any potential virus doesn't enter your house.

In my flat I could comfortably manage one visitor with 2m distancing, perhaps 2 at a push if I moved some chairs around. With 3 visitors, 4 people in total we would need to be wearing masks as we wouldn't be able to maintain 2m

I don't see how this is breaking any rules if your children and husband aren't part of the gathering. Does it say maximum of 6 people in a house? I thought it was maximum 6 people in a gathering.

Does it say maximum of 6 people in a house? I thought it was maximum 6 people in a gathering.

But by that logic you could have lots of gatherings of 6 distributed around your house! So 12 or 18 people at a time...!