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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:
Bluesheep8 · 14/10/2020 11:52

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?

Quite so! Just stay at home, it's a meal ffs

Sweetchillijam · 14/10/2020 11:54

No its not about bending the rules to suit yourselves like Dominic Cummings did. Its about doing the right thing to minimise spread of the disease and minimising interactions.

I would say 6 people absolute maximum just to be on the safe side and preferably no more than two households.

I also still prefer meeting up just for a SD walk in the fresh air or inside somewhere quiet airy and well ventilated and ideal not using the toilet (so any meet ups aren’t long lasting) don’t involve using some one else’s loo or a restaurants loo or consuming a lot of alcohol and I live in a low risk area.

wherestheotherone · 14/10/2020 11:56

It's called the rule of 6 not the rule of 7. If everyone stretches the rules were all going to be in lockdown a lot longer. If people just did as they were asked for the time being we have a fighting chance of being able to enjoy Christmas more and those who are on their own won't need to suffer anymore than they already are.

If people just realised it's not about them, it's about everyone working together and making sacrifices.

Bingbongbinglybong · 14/10/2020 11:58

No, being outside does not make a difference to the law. 6 is the maximum. Sorry

cheninblanc · 14/10/2020 12:01

No. Its 6. 6 only

Jaxhog · 14/10/2020 12:02

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

It's crystal clear I thought. Why do so many people think 6 = something else?

BigChocFrenzy · 14/10/2020 12:04

The government have deliberately chosen the word "gathering" for some reason, instead of clarity

They could have e.g. stated that no more than 6 may be in a residence, including garden, unless they all live in the same household

I suspect the loophole is deliberate so Cummings or some other crony can continue doing what they want

raddledoldmisanthropist · 14/10/2020 12:09

Are any of them twins, OP? Surely no-one is going to say twins count as two people?

What about if two or three of the people are really short, that would be OK wouldn't it? Or is it by mass, like a lift, I can never remember.

Forgetmenot157 · 14/10/2020 12:09

It's not allowed, however I would do it. Rules are crazy... Currently it's OK to meet say 48 people in a day as long as you do it separately in 8 groups of six... Yet if you want to meet 7 in one go in one day then it's not OK... How does that make sense?

aureliacecilia · 14/10/2020 12:10

I'm sure with the rule of 6 that you're meant to social distance from anyone not in your household. We have what I consider to be a big living room/kitchen diner and we would struggle to have more than one couple over if we had to maintain a 2m distance. I really feel this part of the rule of 6 is overlooked.

Bluesheep8 · 14/10/2020 12:10

Look, I couldn't go and meet with my family and a funeral director to plan a family funeral recently because of the current law. But if breaking the law means you're able to go to a dinner party.....Hmm

RufustheSniggeringReindeer · 14/10/2020 12:11

I like the ‘mass, like a lift’ idea personally

alreadytaken · 14/10/2020 12:12

well you are physically able to do so but apart from breaking the law you dont know if you have covid and will infect them all. So you could be responsible for them having an illness that makes 30% breathless for at least 2 months, 40% are still fatigued after 2 months - and some die, even a small number of the young and healthy. It 's also affecting male fertility, although that may be temporary.

SmallestInTheClass · 14/10/2020 12:14

Not without breaking the law.

CrappleUmble · 14/10/2020 12:16

@MotherPiglet

The rule is 6.. with social distancing. I don't know why people dont understand this.
No it isn't. There is no regulation stating that there needs to be SD in legal private gatherings 6 and below. There will be no rules broken if there is no/insufficient SD here.
raddledoldmisanthropist · 14/10/2020 12:17

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

No-one has tested this in court. Much as I think the legal opinion of 3/4 MNers is as good as it gets outside the supreme court I'm not sure I'd want to spend thousands of my own money testing it out to dispute a £200 fine the police would give you anyway because they didn't appreciate you were explaining they were wrong.

Of course, in practice, none of this means anything. Go or do not- there is no try.

The government have deliberately chosen the word "gathering" for some reason

I think that's an incredibly optimistic assessment of how this government writes laws.

MrsFrisbyMouse · 14/10/2020 12:20

The intention of the law was to limit any group of people in one household (including the garden) to 6 (to also include social distancing if you are from different households).

This was to simplify the system. Obv people who live in bigger houses, with large outdoor spaces and ample space indoors - these rules seem overly cautious. There is probably very little increased risk if a small group meet outdoors and other people in house takes the total over 6 - HOWEVER not every family has that privilege. And it would be very socially divisive to try and write a solution that takes into consideration every combination and style of household. (Why yes - you people in large houses with outdoor spaces carry on as normal, and everyone else who lives in flats or shared houses must have greater restrictions)

The rules are there to protect and stop the spread of a virus that has great potential to cause havoc among the vunerable and old in our society. Really isn't that hard to count to 6...

However, there is a case to be made for making active choices to bend the rules dependant on your own risk assessment- but be clear and own that is what you are doing- breaking the rules - even if when it came to any actual prosecution, you could argue out of it on a legal technicality.

Bluesheep8 · 14/10/2020 12:21

No it isn't. There is no regulation stating that there needs to be SD in legal private gatherings 6 and below. There will be no rules broken if there is no/insufficient SD here.

Apart from the fact that there are 7 people!!!!

yawnsvillex · 14/10/2020 12:22

Just go ... who cares. If police knock on door - hide

wwud12 · 14/10/2020 12:22

I thought you couldn't mix with ANYONE from outside your house, regardless of number indoors? It is my daughters birthday in two week. I had planned to meet my mum in a restaurant, making 5 of us having dinner. But as she doesn't live with me, and we're not in a bubble, that now can't happen. Or am I wrong??

catpoooffender · 14/10/2020 12:25

@wwud12

I thought you couldn't mix with ANYONE from outside your house, regardless of number indoors? It is my daughters birthday in two week. I had planned to meet my mum in a restaurant, making 5 of us having dinner. But as she doesn't live with me, and we're not in a bubble, that now can't happen. Or am I wrong??
Depends where you live
poshme · 14/10/2020 12:25

@wwud12 it depends where you live.

CrappleUmble · 14/10/2020 12:26

@Bluesheep8

No it isn't. There is no regulation stating that there needs to be SD in legal private gatherings 6 and below. There will be no rules broken if there is no/insufficient SD here.

Apart from the fact that there are 7 people!!!!

Sure, but I was commenting on a post wrongly claiming the rule is 6 with SD. The 'here' probably confused you, I should've worded that more clearly. It meant the example not the OP.
poshme · 14/10/2020 12:26

'The government have deliberately chosen the word "gathering" for some reason, instead of clarity

They could have e.g. stated that no more than 6 may be in a residence, including garden, unless they all live in the same household'

But in some areas more than one house share a garden. So people in their own home could suddenly be illegal cos their neighbour who shares their garden has some friends round.

Forgetmenot157 · 14/10/2020 12:27

Also the issue with SD is that it's all guidance... However when the givernment has been given guidance by Sage they have told them where to shove it!