BIRTHDAY PLANS HIT BY ‘DAFT’ RULE OF SIX
Mum-of four now unable to meet up with family members
A MARRIED mum-of-four has been forced to cancel her birthday bash after falling victim to the new rule of six to help stop the spread of Covid-19.
Alison Keen had planned a party for her 40th birthday today, but that had to be postponed until next year when the UK went into lockdown.
Instead, Mrs Keen, from Newcastle, was hoping to have a small gathering with her parents who live in Birmingham.
However, the rule that no more than six can mix – which came into effect this week across England – means she, her husband and children cannot meet anyone as a family group.
Mrs Keen said: “I can’t meet up with anyone just because I’ve got kids. Mum’s upset that she can’t see me on my birthday and really annoyed that she could have come to see the kids last week, but not next week.”
Mrs Keen said allowing her children, between six and 11, to go back to school but not have family gatherings ‘seems daft’.
In addition, her parents are among hundreds of thousands of residents under new local coronavirus restrictions affecting Birmingham, Sandwell and Solihull.
Mrs Keen added: “I get they’re trying to simplify the rules, but that’s not how viruses work.
“At the end of the day it’s a new virus and as you learn, policies have to evolve. But it feels awful.”
If you live in the affected areas, the Government says you should not host people you don’t live with in your home or garden, unless they are in your support bubble.
You also can’t meet people you do not live with in their home or garden, whether inside or outside of the affected areas, unless they are in your support bubble.
A support bubble is where a household with one adult joins with another household (on an exclusive basis). Households within a bubble can still visit each other, stay overnight and visit public places together.
Once you make a support bubble, you should not change who is in your bubble.
The Government has said you should not meet people you do not live with in their home or garden, whether inside or outside of the affected areas, unless they’re in your support bubble.
But you can meet another household in the pub or a restaurant, in a park or in the street, as long as you stick to the national guidelines, including the ‘rule of six’.