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People in the North East of England will not be able to meet other people outside their home starting today as Lancashire is also expected to come under tighter restrictions.
Over 10 million people across the UK are now locked up, after new restrictions in Northumberland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Gateshead, Sunderland and County Durham kicked off at midnight.
Residents in these areas are prohibited from socializing with other people outside of their home or bubble, food and drink venues are restricted to table service only, and all leisure and entertainment venues must close at 10 p.m.
Other areas under stricter lockdown restrictions include parts of Scotland, South Wales, North West England, Yorkshire, and the Midlands.
Drastic new measures could also be announced in Lancashire, North West England, Sky News understands.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock is expected to make an announcement this morning that he will ban socializing with different households in homes, private gardens, public parks, restaurants and outdoor bars.
People will be urged to use public transportation only for essential travel, but the rules are not expected to include a complete ban on mixing with other households or a 10 p.m. curfew for bars and pubs.
This will apply in the districts of Preston, Lancaster, Wyre, Fylde, Chorley, South Ribble, West Lancashire, Ribble Valley, Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley, Pendle, Hyndburn and Rossendale.
However, two-thirds of the Blackpool seaside resort will not face the most stringent restrictions.
The county just saw its biggest daily increase in new cases yet, recording 250 more infections on Thursday.
Meanwhile, there are also reports that Merseyside and Leeds could be the next to be subjected to similar restrictions.
Coronavirus cases have risen across the UK, with another 3,395 confirmed infections and 21 deaths reported on Thursday.
Addressing the additional restrictions in the Northeast, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said there had been “worrying rates of infection.”
“We agree with the municipalities that we must follow the data and act and the data says that we must act now so that we can control the virus and keep people safe,” he said.
“And I know that the people of the Northeast will come together to defeat this virus, as we must defeat it.”
Newcastle is one of the areas where pubs will have to operate with a curfew.
According to Sky News data, the two weeks coronavirus The infection rate per 100,000 in the seven local authority areas facing new restrictions are:
- Sunderland: 155.7
- South Tyneside: 155.1
- Gateshead: 139.7
- Newcastle 116.3
- North Tyneside: 85
- Durham County: 70.2
- Northumberland: 47.1
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On Thursday morning, Health Minister Edward Argar told Sky News: “In the northeast we are seeing an increase in infections. It is exactly what we have seen in the northwest.
“We control that rate. When necessary, we intervene and act.”
Argar said that, in the North West of England, the increase in infections was due to people not adhering to the rules of social distancing with different households meeting closely together.
He added: “Obviously a nighttime economy can drive that when people have been to the pub, people have been out late into the night.
“That’s one of the ways that transmission can increase.”
