Boris Johnson has spoken out on whether Brits will be able to do their Christmas shopping in person throughout much of December.
New lockdown rules for England will come into force from Thursday until December 2, and clothes shops, electronic stores and other non-essential retail will close.
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The restrictions are expected to offer a further boost to online retailers such as Amazon, and deal another blow to high streets.
However, Mr Johnson sought to raise hopes of Christmas shoppers saying the high street could open before the big day.
But the Prime Minister warned this would depend on the second lockdown proving a "success" in reducing the Covid-19 infection rate.
Speaking in the Commons, Mr Johnson told MPs: "I do think there is the prospect of a much brighter future ahead if we can make a success of these national measures, open up again in December, give people the chance of some shopping, some economic activity in the weeks leading up to Christmas and then beyond."
He earlier said the intention over the next four weeks is to halve the number of infections.
Mr Johnson said: "The objective is to get the disease to stop doubling, the infection rate to stop doubling and start halving.
"To do that you need to get the R down below one.
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"It's currently estimated to be between 1.1 and 1.3 - I think ONS (Office for National Statistics) said recently it was 1.6 - but it has been coming down.
"Our intention is to use this period to get it below 1 and get that infection rate halving, not doubling."
A scientist has said the R value in Liverpool is "well below one at this moment in time."
Professor Carl Heneghan, director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at the University of Oxford, said the R value had decreased in the city.
He said there is a "problem" in Liverpool but that cases in the city have halved and hospital admissions have "stabilised".
Last night it was announced that there would be mass testing in Liverpool.
Everyone living or working in Liverpool will be offered regular covid-19 tests in the first whole city programme in the country - with rapid turnaround tests available across the city from Friday.
Two thousand military personnel will arrive in the city later this week to roll-out a huge programme of hundreds of thousands of tests as Liverpool becomes the centre of the government's new strategy to fight the virus.
