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Nearly eight million people in Britain will live under stricter lockdown rules after new restrictions were announced for a large part of the West Midlands.
Households will be prohibited from meeting in Birmingham, Sandwell and Solihull since Tuesday after an increase in coronavirus cases.
From midnight Lanarkshire will also join areas around Glasgow subject to stricter rules.
It comes as nine new local authorities were added to Public Health England’s watch list, which could see new rules imposed in those areas as well.
They are: Gateshead, Sunderland, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Hertsmere, Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton, Sheffield and St Helens.
When the new rules go into effect in the West Midlands, Sky News analysis shows that around 5.8 million people in England (1 in 10) will be under stricter lockdown rules than the rest of the country.
Areas already facing additional restrictions include Bolton, which has the worst infection rate in England at 121.9 per 100,000 people, and where the rules include restaurants and pubs that can only do takeout.
In Scotland 1.76m (1 in 3) are subject to stricter rules, and in Wales it is 181,000 (1 in 20), bringing the total in Great Britain to 7.8m.
Sixty-three authorities in England exceeded 20 cases per 100,000 in the most recent 7-day period ending on September 6.
That compares with 14 in the week ending July 5.
Cases in the UK also hit a nearly four-month high on Friday, with 3,539 reported, up from 2,919 the day before.
The analysis by the government’s scientific advisory body, SAGE, followed that the R number had risen above 1.0 for the first time since March.
Heatmap from local authorities July 5
That indicates that the disease is increasing exponentially across the UK, although daily cases are still far fewer than estimated at the peak of the pandemic.
A higher incidence of cases is seen in people 18 to 24 years old, but there are signs that older people are beginning to be affected.
“Although younger people continue to account for the bulk of new cases, we are now beginning to see worrying signs of infections occurring in the elderly, who are at much higher risk of becoming seriously ill,” said Yvonne Doyle of Public Health England . medical director.
