Close to 1,500 businesses are now closed across the Liverpool City Region under tougher lockdown measures tackling the rise of coronavirus cases.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson made an announcement to the House of Commons on Monday afternoon where he confirmed pubs, bars and gyms across the entire region would need to be closed from today.
Pubs can only remain open if they are able to operate solely as a restaurant and serve a substantial meal with alcohol only allowed to be served with food.
Real estate advisors the Altus Group has now worked out that there will be around 1,474 possible closures today which includes a mixture of all affected businesses including:
- Pubs
- Bars
- Casinos
- Betting Shops
- Gyms
- Adult gaming centres
Across the region there are believed to be 1,031 pubs, 68 bars, eight casinos, 278 betting shops and 89 gyms.
Yesterday, gym owners were given a glimmer of hope as local leaders said during a press conference they would try to get them reopened "as soon as possible".
Wirral Council leader councillor Williamson said: "This wasn't our choice.
"We're really disappointed at this - especially given the mental health benefits.
"We will work to get them opened again as soon as possible."
Mayor Joe Anderson said: "We made the points about gyms being safe to government- especially compared with other places.
"But the government weren't listening. They had made their decision to close gyms, betting shops, casinos."
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All of the leaders pointed to the "sunset clause" where the measures are reviewed every four weeks.
They said that reopening gyms was something they would be fighting for within the first review, meaning if they were successful gyms could reopen in just four weeks time.
