A mum has been slammed on a popular parents forum for 'breaking lockdown rules' for delivering brownies to her daughter's friend.
The woman posted on Mumsnet under the title "I didn't do anything wrong....did I?" that her daughter had been desperate to see her friend who lives close by, so she made brownies and left them on the doorstep.
But other forum users slammed her for flouting the lockdown rules which were issued on Monday in a statement from Prime Minister Boris Johnson due to the coronavirus crisis.
The mum wrote: "DD desperate to see her friend who lives a few streets away. She made brownies and we dropped them on her doorstep, went back onto the pavement around 12 feet away, DD called her and she came to the door, took the brownies and said thank you.
"They then call each other while we're walking home (social distancing all the way but not many people around) and her older sister shouts in the background "her mum let her do that? That was stupid!!!" meaning we shouldn't have brought the brownies round to her house.
"I couldn't see anything wrong with it. I mean, the postman delivers mail to houses each day. Am I missing something? Or is she worried about eating contaminated food - we washed our hands thoroughly during the process."
Lockdown rules include only leaving the house to shopping for essentials, for one form of exercise a day - either alone or with members of your household, for a medical need or to provide care or help a vulnerable person and for travel to work but only if necessary and you cannot work from home.
Lots of Mumsnet users were quick to remind the mum of these rules.
One user said: "Essential journeys only. Stay at home. Which bit of this message is unclear? And yes, you could absolutely transmit the virus on whatever you wrapped the brownies in.
Another wrote: "It wasn't essential, was it? This is the problem. Everyone is looking for loopholes, and everyone believes they have a reason that the rules shouldn't apply to them.
And another commented: "Well it’s certainly pushing the boundaries. This type of thing will probably result in us being restricted to our own properties only."
But the mum responded: "Well the brownies weren't essential, I agree, but was part of our daily exercise," and later added, "as the food was cooked and we didn't touch it after it came out of the oven. The inside of the foil was not touched by our hands either."
Others weren't so scathing in their remarks, one parent said: "You're allowed out for a walk, you left them at a safe distance, surely it's up to them whether they want to eat them or not.
"You aren't allowed to mix households, but dropping something off at a safe distance as long as you observed social distancing on the way then meh. I am wouldn't do it again, but similarly, I wouldn't worry."
Another agreed: "You didn't do anything wrong, you followed the guidance (assuming that walk was your once-daily outdoor exercise) and you didn't come into contact with anyone else.
"However, I can understand her anxiety. You're right, the postman still delivers mail, food shopping is still delivered, etc. But those are essential, brownies aren't. It was a lovely thought but I probably wouldn't make unnecessary trips like this again."
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And one user replied: "It's not the crime of the century. It's certainly not morally wrong. But this virus does not spread itself: it is spread by the actions of human beings. That's the point.
"It's probably going to be fine if you did not touch the brownie once it was cooked, if the family wiped the tin with something to kill any virus before they opened it and washed their hands before they then touched the brownie. It really is that easy to catch."
