Millions of people in Liverpool have been placed under a fresh lockdown amid a sharp rise in coronavirus cases in the city.
The region entered the tier three category on Wednesday, with pubs, bars, indoor gyms, leisure centres, sports facilities, fitness studios, betting shops, adult gaming centres and casinos all ordered to close.
Now, London, Essex, York and other areas face tougher tier two Covid measures from Saturday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock has confirmed.
The "high" alert level means households will be banned from mixing indoors, including in pubs and restaurants. It comes as a final decision is yet to be made on whether Greater Manchester faces "very high" tier three measures.
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