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Original poster

Can I meet with a total of 7 people if several live together?

120 replies

Dramatica321 · 14/10/2020 10:59

Can I? I am planning on going to a friends for dinner. It will be her plus two other friends, me and my boyfriend (who lives with me). Then her parents will be in (2) but a different part of the house (it’s very big). So in total it will be 7 people but Me and my boyfriend live together, and her parents live together?

OP posts:
MileyWiley · 14/10/2020 10:59

No

dementedpixie · 14/10/2020 10:59

No

Rosehip10 · 14/10/2020 11:02

Rule of SIX op....

Original poster
Dramatica321 · 14/10/2020 11:03

Ok apparently the parents will be inside and we will be in a separate building outside in her garden, is this ok?

OP posts:
emmathedilemma · 14/10/2020 11:03

Which bit of 7 being greater than 6 do people not understand? The average 5 year old grasps this concept!

LST · 14/10/2020 11:03

Well I would go.

GunsAndShips · 14/10/2020 11:03

It's a rule of 6. Not 7 if you're really desperate for a dinner party or 8 if you're special.

Original poster
Dramatica321 · 14/10/2020 11:04

Can anyone let me know if the inside/outside thing I mentioned above makes a difference?

OP posts:
pineapplepalmtree · 14/10/2020 11:06

no its the same house/garden so doesn't make a difference. Presumably you will need the loo at some point and mix further in the house as well?

Racoonworld · 14/10/2020 11:06

I see not know if it makes a difference to the law but if you are unable delegate building in the garden the whole time then I would assume that’s ok. Is the building big enough for social distancing between you all though?

Racoonworld · 14/10/2020 11:06

In a separate building*

ChasingRainbows19 · 14/10/2020 11:07

What part of 6 don’t people understand? If one of you is asymptomatic the more people you are with the more chances of this thing...

RufustheSniggeringReindeer · 14/10/2020 11:19

@Dramatica321

Ok apparently the parents will be inside and we will be in a separate building outside in her garden, is this ok?
Nope

Makes no difference

I wish it did though!

LindaEllen · 14/10/2020 11:20

For god's sake. Why do people keep trying to bend the rules and making up bizarre scenarios as if they're a special case? It's a dinner party. It's not essential, is it? And plus, you do know that even if there's 6 of you round the table, you will still have to be a suitable distance apart from each other, right? How big is her table to allow this safely?

LadyLoungeALot · 14/10/2020 11:24

No, it doesn't matter. It's six UNLESS more than six live in the same household.

Can the five of you go out for dinner instead?

RufustheSniggeringReindeer · 14/10/2020 11:24

Its not a bizarre scenario

My friends have a room in their backgarden completely seperate to the house

In theory they could easily have 4 people in there and 6 in the house

They won’t obviously

MotherPiglet · 14/10/2020 11:25

The rule is 6.. with social distancing. I don't know why people dont understand this.

RedskyAtnight · 14/10/2020 11:25

If there's only actually 5 of you meeting, then this is fine.

steppemum · 14/10/2020 11:35

@RedskyAtnight

If there's only actually 5 of you meeting, then this is fine.
no it isn't.

Thread after thread
It doesn't matter if 2 of the household are in their room upstairs, or asleep, or you are in the garden and they are in the house.
It is 6 total.
The loo, hallway, etc are all shared by all the people at some point, so if you breath out Covid all over the hall, then the next day the 2 peopel who were not present at the dinner party are exposed to it, along with the people at the dinner party.

The only way you might be able to argue it is if the building in the garden is a separate house, with own entrance and loo, and the hosts are not going in and out of the main house. because then it is actually 2 houses and her parents are in one and you in the other

Toilenstripes · 14/10/2020 11:39

It’s really quite simple. If you are confused, stay home.

RedskyAtnight · 14/10/2020 11:41

@steppemum

Thread after thread it's explained that the actual legislation mentions gatherings (I'll try to find the actual legal wording) not people in a house.

I would suggest that multiple persons from multiple households in the same house is not a good idea ... but it is legal.

AmelieTaylor · 14/10/2020 11:45

@LadyLoungeALot

No, it doesn't matter. It's six UNLESS more than six live in the same household.

Can the five of you go out for dinner instead?

Yes because being in a restaurant with 4 friends and a host of staff & other diners, all sharing a bathroom, will be SO much safer than being in a completely different house to her friends parents 🙄🙇🏻‍♀️
JenniferSantoro · 14/10/2020 11:49

How may times do you need to be told no. Seven is one more than six. The answer is no.

LadyLoungeALot · 14/10/2020 11:50

Yes because being in a restaurant with 4 friends and a host of staff & other diners, all sharing a bathroom, will be SO much safer than being in a completely different house to her friends parents 🙄🙇🏻‍♀️

It doesn't matter how stupid you think the law is. It's the law at the moment. So, to not break it, the 5 of them can meet up outside. The 7 of them can not meet up inside.

steppemum · 14/10/2020 11:52

[quote RedskyAtnight]@steppemum

Thread after thread it's explained that the actual legislation mentions gatherings (I'll try to find the actual legal wording) not people in a house.

I would suggest that multiple persons from multiple households in the same house is not a good idea ... but it is legal.[/quote]
yep, seen this argued on here too.

This is called finding a loophole.
Yes there is a legal definition of a gathering, but it has been made clear by all the spokespeople that the intention is people in a house.

Given that the point is to stop people getting ill, and that the extra people are touching and breathing in the same place as the people not technically 'gathering' this is really willful misinterpretation for your own ends isn't it?