Greater Manchester and Lancashire could be plunged into tier three lockdown as soon as today, while London could face a tier two lockdown by tomorrow.
MPs in the capital are set to have a briefing with Health Minister Helen Whateley at 9.30am today.
The news comes as a further 137 people have died with coronavirus and 19,724 more cases have been confirmed in the last 24 hours.
Yesterday’s tally is almost three times higher than the 59 deaths on October 1.
The country has now seen 654,644 cases and 43,155 deaths since the start of the pandemic.
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