Businesses are bracing themselves for a full national lockdown after Health Secretary Matt Hancock refused to rule out imposing tougher coronavirus restrictions.
It's thought that Prime Minister Boris Johnson will make a decision today other whether to bring in a full, England-wide lockdown - or at least to bring more regions under the highest Tier 4 measures.
With the vast majority of England already in Tier 4, the move would mean Tier 3 areas such as the Liverpool City Region, Shropshire, Yorkshire, Somerset and Herefordshire, are also moved up.
According to Mail Online, the Government's Covid-O committee is meeting later on Monday to decide whether a third national lockdown is required.
On Monday morning, Mr Johnson confirmed the government will be introducing new measures to tackle rapidly rising coronavirus cases across the country.
He warned of "tough, tough" weeks to come during a visit to Chase Farm Hospital in North London.
Mr Johnson was at the hospital to meet some of the first people to receive the Oxford vaccine on Monday.
He said there were "tough tough" weeks to come and added: "If you look at the numbers there's no question we will have to take tougher measures and we will be announcing those in due course."
When asked on Sky News if changes to restrictions may be announced today, Mr Hancock said: "We have shown we are ready to move incredibly quickly. We look at the data on a daily basis."
He said the new variant is "much easier to catch", with the "old tier system no longer strong enough", adding: "It means that whereas the old Tier 3 was able to contain the old variant, that is proving increasingly difficult in all parts of the country.
"It is down to people's behaviour. What matters is, yes of course, the rules that we put in place, but it is also about how people act.
"And frankly what I would say is this: it is critical that everybody in the country does all that they can to reduce the spread of the virus."
It came after Mr Johnson admitted on Sunday that curbs were "probably about to get tougher", with Labour leader Keir Starmer also calling for a national lockdown within a matter of hours.
Mr Johnson told the Andrew Marr Show that Downing Street is assessing whether Tier 4 restrictions across two thirds of the country - are tough enough, emphasising: "We've got to keep things under constant review."
Another 20 million people across England were forced into the highest level of restrictions last week, meaning non-essential shops and businesses closed and people are limited to meeting one other person from a different household outdoors.
