Millions of people in Liverpool have been placed under a fresh lockdown amid a sharp rise in coronavirus cases in the city.
The region entered the tier three category on Wednesday, with pubs, bars, indoor gyms, leisure centres, sports facilities, fitness studios, betting shops, adult gaming centres and casinos all ordered to close.
Now, London, Essex, York and other areas face tougher tier two Covid measures from Saturday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has confirmed.
The "high" alert level means households will be banned from mixing indoors, including in pubs and restaurants.
It comes as a final decision is yet to be made on whether Greater Manchester faces "very high" tier three measures.
More than half of England's population will be living under high or very high-alert restrictions by Saturday.
The areas to go into high alert restrictions this weekend are:
- London
- Essex
- Elmbridge in Surrey
- Barrow in Furness, Cumbria
- York
- North East Derbyshire
- Chesterfield
- Erewash, Derbyshire
What are the restrictions exactly?
Earlier this week the government announced a new three-tier lockdown system in England.
Every part of the country now comes under either "medium", "high" or "very high" alert.
Liverpool City is currently the only area in the tier three category.
Under the rules, indoor gyms, leisure centres, sports facilities, fitness studios, betting shops, adult gaming centres and casinos have all been ordered to close. Pubs and bars can only stay open if they are serving food.
Elsewhere on the high street, supermarkets and fashion outlets remain open.
These 'non-essential' shops are still allowed to trade, but guidelines have been put in place for shoppers at the likes of Primark, Asda, Aldi, Tesco, M&S and Morrisons in "high risk" areas.
What the government says
The official government guidelines state that "shops following COVID-secure guidelines can host more people in total, but no one must mix indoors or in most public outdoor venues with anyone who they do not live with (or have formed a support bubble with)."
This includes in:
- pubs and restaurants, where they are permitted to open
- shops
- leisure and entertainment venues
- places of worship
The government website also says that clinically vulnerable people can visit businesses, such as supermarkets, pubs and shops, whilst keeping two metres away from others wherever possible or one metre plus other precautions.
With the new restrictions, the number of people you can mix with in public now varies.
Those in tier one areas can meet with up to six people indoors or outdoors, providing social distancing is adhered to.
However, those in tier two areas cannot meet indoors. In very high risk areas, people are now banned from mixing with other households, with supermarkets also urging customers to shop alone.
