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Lancashire is reported to be the next area in England to face a local lockdown that includes a ban on households from mingling and a curfew on pubs and restaurants.
The measures will affect all areas except parts of Blackpool and an official announcement is expected on Friday, Sky News reports.
The cities of Preston and Lancaster and large cities and districts such as Blackburn with Darwen, Burnley and Pendle are expected to be affected.
The new restrictions are likely to mirror those that take effect at midnight Friday in the Northeast.
That includes a 10 p.m. curfew for licensed venues, which will have to switch to table service only, and a ban on people mingling with other people outside of their home.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed the measures for the Northeast on Thursday, following government talks with local councils and MPs.
The restrictions will apply to around two million people living in Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Gateshead, County Durham and Sunderland.
It is also reported that Merseyside will be placed under the same lockdown restrictions due to a growing number of infections in some areas.
A government announcement is expected tomorrow, according to the Liverpool Echo.
The lockdown reports come after nearly 4,000 people tested positive for coronavirus for the second day in a row.
The surge in cases has sparked a crisis in coronavirus testing across much of the country, with reports of people queuing for hours and being turned away at test sites at virus hotspots.
The government has been criticized for failing to prepare for the surge in infections after relaxing lockdown restrictions and encouraging people to socialize under the Eat Out to Help Out scheme.
The head of the government’s testing and tracing service, Baroness Dido Harding, has said she does not believe that “no one expected to see a really large increase in demand for evidence” and insisted it was a “quiet summer”.
But he admitted that “it is clear that we do not have sufficient testing capacity.”
It is understood that the offices could close “in two weeks” if the “rule of six” does not reduce the rising rates of infection.
There are fears that the return of students to universities could cause coronavirus cases to increase, with images from Freshers Week showing young people ignoring social distancing on night out.
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