Downing Street has played down the prospect of roadblocks being set up to seal off entire areas where there are localised coronavirus outbreaks following a spike in infections in Leicester.
However they have indicated some of the restrictions that could be brought in in the event of a local lockdown - including closing down certain schools, public spaces or buisnesses.
There have been suggestions that there will be a local lockdown in the city in the East Midlands following concerns about the increase in cases, with 900 in the last fortnight.
City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby, who is meeting Health Secretary Matt Hancock, said the level of the outbreak is declining in "precisely the same way elsewhere in the rest of England."
He had seen "no evidence of clusters in particular parts of the city or neighbourhoods," he told the BBC's Radio 4 World At One programme.
But Public Health England seemed to suggest that, instead, there would be an extension of the current nationwide lockdown arrangements in Leicester, meaning pubs, hairdressers and restaurants won't be able to reopen on Saturday July 4 there unlike the rest of England.
The city's mayor said if there was a case of continuing lockdown in Leicester, there was a case for continuing in the rest of the country.
The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, described the strategy as "Whack-a-Mole" and it had worked in other places, such as Weston-Super-Mare.
Mr Johnson's official spokesman said: “The sorts of things we have talked about in the road map were, for example, closing down particular schools or particular groups of schools, potentially limiting admissions to health facilities or – if there were a particular business or premises linked to an outbreak – closing that down temporarily.”
Pressed on whether local lockdowns could mean people being stopped from entering or leaving areas affected by coronavirus, the spokesman said: “The priority… would be to close down premises linked to outbreaks and, where people are considered to be at risk because they have come into contact with others confirmed as having coronavirus, telling them they need to self-isolate for 14 days.”
Health Secretary Matt Hancock is meeting local leaders in Leicester, including Sir Peter Soulsby, to discuss the flare-up, amid criticism of the lack of communication with them.
The PM's official spokesman said Mr Hancock would update MPs in the Commons later.
Asked whether Mr Hancock would be telling Leicester to delay easing lockdown for a fortnight after the rest of England enjoys new freedoms on July 4, the spokesman said: “I genuinely don’t want to pre-empt the discussions that they are going to have later on.”
Downing Street insisted the powers existed to impose local lockdowns to tackle outbreaks of Covid-19.
“Either the local authority or Public Health England have a range of powers themselves to allow them to contain local outbreaks – for example they can impose temporary closures of public spaces, businesses and venues,” the spokesman added.
Admissions could be stopped to hospitals and the Health Secretary has powers under the Coronavirus Act.
