Greater Manchester and Lancashire are set to be put into the third tier of the new lockdown system which would see the closure of pubs and bars.
Public Health bosses have recommended that the two areas are moved from the 'high' alert level to the 'very high' category at a meeting of the Gold Command today, the Sun has reported.
The Prime Minister Boris Johnson will make the final decision on whether to go ahead with the recommendation at a meeting on Thursday morning.
But the potential move has been criticised by leaders in the North, including Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham.
In a joint statement with leaders the 10 councils in Greater Manchester, Mr Burnham said: "We do not believe we should be put into Tier 3 for two reasons.
"First, the evidence does not currently support it. The rate of Covid infection in Greater Manchester is much lower, at 357.6 cases per 100,000, compared to Liverpool City Region which is in Tier 3 at 488.0 cases per 100,000.
"Plus our hospital admission rate is much lower than in (Liverpool City Region) as deputy CMO Jonathan Van-Tam highlighted in his press conference this week.
"Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust seven-day rolling average Covid patients in beds is at around the 225 mark and in Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust it's at the 100 mark.
"Second, the financial package accompanying Tier 3 is nowhere near sufficient to prevent severe hardship, widespread job losses and business failure."
Latest figures from Monday show there are 449.3 Covid cases per 100,000 in Greater Manchester and 423.4 cases per 100,000 in West Lancashire.
