Two areas in the Liverpool city region are at risk of entering Tier 4 after a rise in covid cases.
Wirral and Halton are on the edge of the county's toughest coronavirus restrictions after infection rates in the borough crept up.
According to Mirror Online, Wirral saw its case rate rise from 151 to 268/100,000 in the seven days to December 27.
In the same time, Halton's cases shot up from 189 to 248/100,000.
Although the Government has not set out exact criteria for when an area is moved up a tier, several local authorities, including Wirral and Halton, are showing worrying infection trends.
On New Year's Eve, a total of 44 million people, or 78% of the population of England, woke up to find themselves living under the country's toughest restrictions.
While only the Isles of Scilly is in Tier 1, with no areas in Tier 2, about 11 million people are still enjoying the relative freedom of Tier 3.
It is not just these areas of the city region that are at risk though.
Hambleton and York in Yorkshire have higher case rates than dozens of Tier 4 areas.
Hambleton recorded 304 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to December 27, up from 120 the week before.
York counted 297/100,000, double its 143/100,000 of seven days before.
North Somerset's hit 245 from 188/100,000 a week before and Wychavon in Worcestershire rose from 158 to 238/100,000.
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As well as those in Tier 3 with rising case rates, a vast majority of local areas across England are seeing infections shoot up.
Of the 315 local areas, 253 (80%) have seen a rise in case rates, 60 (19%) have seen a fall, and two are unchanged.
Epping Forest in Essex continues to have the highest rate in England, with 1,750 new cases recorded in the seven days to December 27 - the equivalent of 1,328.9 cases per 100,000 people.
This is up from 1,291.7 in the seven days to December 20.
