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Tighter coronavirus restrictions are being imposed on people living in the Liverpool, Warrington, Hartlepool and Middlesbrough city region.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said residents of the areas should not mix socially with those of other homes, except in outdoor spaces such as parks and outdoor hospitality settings.
And he warned against “all but essential travel,” meaning that people can still go to work and school.
The changes will go into effect at 12:01 am on Saturday.
Hancock said the measures are necessary because “in some parts of the country, the virus it is spreading rapidly “, with cases skyrocketing to 268 per 100,000 people in Liverpool.
Liverpool has seen cases rise to 268 per 100,000 people
But the second peak in COVID-19 cases is “highly localized,” he said, adding that recent actions are having a “positive impact.”
“What we are doing to respond to these dire circumstances is starting to work, so don’t stop,” he said in a Commons statement Thursday.
“Let’s all continue to do our bit and one day, on this virus, we will prevail.”
Steve Rotheram, the mayor of the Liverpool city region metro, said the measures are a “step in the right direction” but added he was not sure “if they are enough”.
He called on the government to publish its scientific evidence and provide “substantial” financial support to companies already struggling.
The government has been urged to provide more financial support to companies in difficulty.
But Andy Preston, Middlesbrough’s chief executive, called the restrictions “unacceptable.”
He said he had tried to communicate with the government but “they did not listen” and the new “unacceptable” measures are “based on ignorance” that “will kill viable jobs and damage mental health.”
Labor shadow health secretary Jon Ashworth also said that many regions subject to local closures are seeing cases increase, not decrease, so he asked, “Why aren’t the moles hitting?”
And Conservative MP Philip Davies attacked the “arbitrary, state nanny, socialist approach” of ministers.
He warned that issues like the 10 pm curfew for pubs “are useless, apart from further collapsing the economy and eroding our freedoms.”
