Why you shouldn't have a barbecue even when rules are relaxed

A picnic is fine but having a barbecue could help spread coronavirus, says expert

Social gatherings of up to six people in England will be allowed from Monday, and across the UK even more people can get together, but an expert has warned that we shouldn't have barbecues just yet.

While parties may be safer, the special nature of barbecues could open people up to catching and spreading the new coronavirus.

The rules state that up to six people can get together in a garden if they stay two metres apart and don't go inside.

But Professor Sally Bloomfield, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, has warned people against having barbecues yet.

Professor Bloomfield told BBC Radio 4’s The World At One: “The thing that really worries me is people are starting to say to me, oh, can I have a barbecue?

“That is the really dangerous thing because then we are really starting handling things backwards and forwards to each other – plates, glasses, cups and so forth.

“So if you really want to have a social gathering and a meal, and the more time we spend outdoors the better, then it should be a picnic where we each bring our own food and knives and forks and plates and everything and keep them to ourselves and take them away with us.

“Then we can have a really nice social gathering. But barbecues, please no, at the moment.”