Lockdown restrictions have been imposed on Leicester after a rise in coronavirus cases, including shutting non-essential shops and closing schools to most pupils.
It is part of what Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called a "whack-a-mole strategy" to crack down on flare-ups, and could be extended to other towns and cities over the next months.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock last month said that a regional rise in cases of the virus in England would result in " local lockdown ".
But The Mirror has found that new confirmed cases have been rising across 36 of the 151 upper-tier local authorities in England, including the North West.
Currently, the method being used by local authorities to control the virus focuses on closing down settings such as businesses and schools where there are flare ups - and contact tracing those affected.
Other countries which have seen sudden spikes, such as Germany, are also implementing localised lockdowns.
Areas with spiking coronavirus cases
The English cities, counties and London boroughs which have seen coronavirus case rises in recent weeks are, in alphabetical order:
- Barking and Dagenham
- Brent
- Derbyshire
- Doncaster
- Ealing
- Enfield
- Gateshead
- Gloucestershire
- Hammersmith and Fulham
- Haringey
- Harrow
- Havering
- Hounslow
- Isle of Wight
- Kensington and Chelsea
- Leicester
- Medway
- Milton Keynes
- Plymouth
- Portsmouth
- Redbridge
- Redcar and Cleveland
- Richmond upon Thames
- Sandwell
- Slough
- Suffolk
- Sunderland
- Tower Hamlets
- Wakefield
- Walsall
- Wandsworth
- Westminster
- Wigan
- Wiltshire
- Windsor and Maidenhead
- York
How will areas be selected for localised lockdown?
Health Secretary Matt Hancock told a Downing Street briefing there would be "local lockdowns in the future" with the Joint Biosecurity Centre having a "response function" that could address local spikes in infections, in partnership with local public health agencies.
Mr Hancock has said that under local lockdowns schools, businesses or workplaces could be closed in areas with a high prevalance of infection.
Public Health England said there was no threshold for determining when a local lockdown should be implemented
Instead, advice would be given on a case-by-case basis and decisions taken by leaders based on this advice and the specific circumstances of the area, it added.
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