Government and local authority officials are reportedly considering tougher new restrictions if the three tier system has not made a difference by mid-November.
On Saturday the ECHO reported that coronavirus cases had started to fall in Liverpool, 10 days after the Liverpool City Region went into Tier 3 on October 14.
The news, while encouraging, came with a warning from Liverpool's Director of Public Health Matt Ashton, who stressed that Liverpool's infection rate still remains very high.
According to iNews, discussions are now underway between government officials for a plan B to tackle the second wave of Covid-19, which could see a “Tier Three-plus” or a "Tier Four" imposed in England.
Whitehall sources told the newspaper that it would be clear by mid-November whether the current Tier 3 restrictions had made any difference to daily case numbers and if extra regulations were necessary.
Extra Tier 3 or Tier 4 restrictions, which are reportedly being discussed but have not been decided, could include shutting restaurants and non-essential retailers such as clothes shops.
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Other options under consideration include the possibility of short-term local circuit breaker lockdowns to bring the R value of transmission below 1.
According to the latest data, a total of 2,715 people tested positive for Covid-19 in Liverpool in the week up to October 20, giving a weekly rate of 545.1 cases per 100,000 people.
This compares to 2,907 positive cases that were recorded in the week up to October 18 (583.7 cases per 100,000) and 3,394 positive cases (681.5 per 100,000), in the week up to October 11.
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