Lockdown restrictions are expected to come into place in the north west of England from Friday, after soaring transmission rates in the area. Merseyside was placed on a Government watch list last Friday, but cases have continued to surge. Ministers are meeting today to discuss potential restrictions.
Councillors have been told to expect an announcement from the Government today regarding local lockdown measures.
Merseyside currently looks set to join people in Greater Manchester, Birmingham, Bradford, Blackburn, Preston and other areas which are currently banned from a variety of liberties after a surge in cases.
Yesterday, it was announced by the Health Secretary Matt Hancock Northumberland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Gateshead, Sunderland and County Durham will face tougher rules from Friday.
About 10 million people are currently under some form of lockdown across the UK.
Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson said earlier this week he now fully expects new lockdown restrictions to be imposed.
Mr Anderson said he would not be surprised if the Government brought in measures for Liverpool, the whole of Merseyside and perhaps other areas of the north west.
He said: “We know there will be Government meetings to decide what happens next on Friday, but we fully expect to be affected by lockdown measures having gone over the 100 cases per 100,000 government threshold.
“We think this could well be part of a wider North West lockdown, because you can see cases are rising across the whole region.
“We think this could involve a ban on care home visits, with vulnerable people perhaps being told to shield again.
“We may see pubs and restaurants reduced to takeaway services and restrictions on households mixing, we will have to wait and see exactly what measures are brought in and will keep people informed.
“The numbers are continuing to go up and sadly have not slowed down at all, the only thing we can do now is to continue to try and urge people to do the right thing and follow all the safety measures at all times.
“We are expecting a lockdown now and are preparing and planning for that.”
