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....

It’s not a rule break. The rules don’t state only 6 in your house at any one time they state only 6 in a social gathering at any one time.

This one has been done to death. It is (probably, obviously untested in court) legal if the 6 of you do not interact with anyone else in the house.
"Gathering" is not open to interpretation - it is clearly defined in the legislation.

However, unless you live in a very large house that 6 of you can properly socially distance and you consider things like hygiene (e.g. sharing toilets) and ventilation, then it is almost certainly a very bad idea.

What I don’t get is that if wanted to invite 5 people over I could send DH out with the kids. Maybe to his mum and Dads.

All perfectly legal but actually causing more contacts than if they just stayed upstairs.

I hate to say it as I’ve loved catching up with my friends over the last month or so (and have been pretty sensible-distance, ventilation, cleaning etc) but the 2 household indoors rule was much safer.

The rules themselves don't protect you from covid. The rules are trying to describe activities that provide greater or lesser risks of transmission. The more people you meet and interact with, the more likely you are to spread the virus. Having 5 extra people in your house from 5 separate households increases the risk of transmission substantially more than having fewer people round or meeting outside or even meeting in a controlled environment (e.g. restaurant). People say it's no different to being inside your home but it has proved to be demonstrably less likely to transmit - likely due to more visual cues and social norms in public versus private spaces.

Check the rules, paragraph 2. Seeing friends and family

www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-meeting-with-others-safely-social-distancing/coronavirus-covid-19-meeting-with-others-safely-social-distancing

'When seeing friends and family you do not live with you should meet in groups of 6 or less.'

the important words are 'meet in groups' it does say not 'meet in a building'

Alternatively marry two flies and hold a reception - then you can have 15 people.
Don't be lulled into having a funeral for the flies as 30 people cannot attend the wake.

The rule of 6 is supposed to limit contact and therefore reduce risk but in reality it doesn’t because you can meet up with a different group of people at different times, just not all at once. My household is a group of 4, my in laws are a household of 3. If we meet up in the same house at the same time we are breaking the rules. We could make Sil go out when we visit them or maybe I could stay at home and let dh and the kids visit so as to comply with the rules but what is the point when she can pop in and see us later ( we live 5 minutes away). We are not cutting down on the amount of people we are in contact with and therefore not reducing the risk. We are choosing to ignore the rule because it doesn’t make any sense in our set of circumstances and does not reduce any of the risk to any of us as we are all still exposed to each other whether that be in one go or separately.

I hate to say it as I’ve loved catching up with my friends over the last month or so (and have been pretty sensible-distance, ventilation, cleaning etc) but the 2 household indoors rule was much safer

I have to agree on this and I wish they had kept the 2 households rule. I can't believe the number of people (not just on this thread) who are happily having people from 5 different households round for dinner. Unless they all live in Buckingham Palace, how are people ensuring social distancing between the households?

@richard but those same 6 people could go out to a restaurant. Where would the distancing be then?

@ChaChaCha2012 well I can selectively quote legislation, I did it because posting the whole lot on this thread would have been unhelpful, no?

I have read it fully and understood it properly, thanks. The wording of legislation matters. No judge is going to say “well I know the law doesn’t actually say this, but we intended it to, so you’re nicked”. Doesn’t work like that.

The Op asked about the rules, not the government ‘s intentions. I suspect the government’s intentions don’t have anything to do with suppressing covid, anyway.

@LST if those 6 people go to a restaurant they are supposed to socially distance from each other. You’re right, they don’t, but they’re supposed to.

What tier are you in? We aren’t allowed more than 2 households mixing outside anyway. Assume you’ve checked?

[quote LST]@richard but those same 6 people could go out to a restaurant. Where would the distancing be then?[/quote]
Those 6 people are also supposed to be distancing from each other at a restaurant. The guidelines say you should consider distancing when deciding where to sit at your table and the restaurant should help with this. I suspect this isn't really happening and lots of people aren't bothering to distance in restaurants, but that doesn't change the fact that they are supposed to distance, whether in a private home, a restaurant or a pub.

What is it that people just aren’t understanding?
I don’t get it? How could it be clearer?
If there’s a roof and you’re under it....6 people!! Including children. If there are 6 alive humans under that roof and contained within the walls....then it doesn’t matter where in the house they are!!
Sake.
You’re lucky you’re allowed to even visit other people, in Scotland we aren’t.

You can only have 2 different households within that 6 people

Say one person visiting has covid. Touches surfaces in your house. Everyone catches it including kids and husband because they touch the surfaces the next day.
9 people infected instead of 5 if you'd stuck to the rule of 6.
Lots of people in the country do this and there's your answer...

So using the interpretation used by some on this thread you could have 6 people in every room of your house?

If people were using common sense they wouldn’t be gathering with a number of people from different households in their house whatever rule of 6 they were using. All because the guidelines say you can doesn’t mean you should. It is partly because people have been doing this that the rates have been going up, and why in certain areas you are no longer allowed to do it.

[quote LST]@richard but those same 6 people could go out to a restaurant. Where would the distancing be then?[/quote]
Almost like the rules are being pulled out of someone’s backside.

I kept to the lockdown last time but I stopped caring when are the rules became inconsistent, and I was able to go to a theme park before being allowed to visit my brother and family. I still kept to it but as months have gone on and rules are just inconsistent as ever, I have to admit - I don’t care anymore,

@FelicityPike

What is it that people just aren’t understanding? I don’t get it? How could it be clearer? If there’s a roof and you’re under it....6 people!! Including children. If there are 6 alive humans under that roof and contained within the walls....then it doesn’t matter where in the house they are!! Sake. You’re lucky you’re allowed to even visit other people, in Scotland we aren’t.

It's nothing to do with understanding. It's what's written in law.

And the law talks about people "gathering", not people under 1 roof.

Whether you think the law is sensible is a whole other question, but what OP wants to do is actually legal.

It is difficult though. They chose the word "gathering", which is open to interpretation, rather than "house", "home" or "property".

@Frequentcarpetflyer What's difficult about understanding that the virus is more likely to spread when people gather together. The rule of six does not magically stop it from happening, it just limits the numbers of people who could get it and pass it on. It is not a green light to party with 6 people every night or have 6 indoors and 6 in the garden because you think the guidance says so. At what point do people start to use their brains? I reluctantly think a lockdown is the only answer because people are not responsible enough to live within rules and guidelines.

However, unless you live in a very large house that 6 of you can properly socially distance and you consider things like hygiene (e.g. sharing toilets) and ventilation, then it is almost certainly a very bad idea

This.

@tictac is isn't 2 households in England. It can be 6.

Say one person visiting has covid. Touches surfaces in your house. Everyone catches it including kids and husband because they touch the surfaces the next day.
9 people infected instead of 5 if you'd stuck to the rule of 6.

This.

I thought the catching it from surfaces thing had been overstated?
Not saying it’s a good idea to have too many people round but I’m pretty sure the likelyhood of someone catching it from a surface the next day is pretty slim. Otherwise we’re back in wiping shopping territory!

I'd say thats fine. Its not how many people are in a house, its a gathering! Theres more than 6 people in pubs/restaurants etc

What about gardens? Family of 4, my dh and kids are in house/bed. Can 3 friends come and socially distance at the bottom of my garden? They'd be walking through house to get there. Was going to invite people and now doubting myself.