Westminster is to announce further restrictions on certain areas of Northern England starting next Monday.
The government is planning a three-tier system to implement local lockdowns based on the COVID-19 infection rate in individual areas.
Merseyside and other parts of northern England will be considered in the highest tier based on hospital demand for COVID-19 cases.
Pubs, restaurants and cafés will have to shutter while schools and universities will remain open. Leisure venues and hairdressers may also be forced to close, The Times reported.
"Significant restrictions like the ones being proposed need to come with financial support to match," noted Liverpool Mayor Steve Rotheram in a statement.
"When similar limits were imposed in March, the Chancellor offered major support. If it was right then, it certainly is now - or we risk losing jobs and businesses unnecessarily."
The news comes a day after Scotland announced a two-week lockdown in the central belt with hospitality venues temporarily closing, while publican Greene King revealed it is cutting 800 jobs.
The pub chain is closing 79 sites in light of the tighter restrictions, but one third of those may not reopen when they are eased. Its estate counts 3,100 venues in the UK.
The company said the 10pm curfew and the winding down of the furlough scheme have been hitting trading.
On Wednesday night Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer asked Boris Johnson to provide scientific evidence for the 10pm curfew and said it should be reviewed if not justified.
Next week, rebel Tory MPs are expected to vote against the rule in the House of Commons.
There were mixed reactions among hospitality stocks, with J D Wetherspoon plc (LON:JDW) rising 5% to 924p, while rivals Fuller, Smith & Turner plc (LON:FSTA) shed 4% to 572p and Young's (LON:YNGA) dipped 1% to 812.45p.
In the food sector, Wagamama owner Restaurant Group PLC (LON:RTN) dropped 5% to 54.32p and Franco Manca owner Fulham Shore PLC (LON:FUL) slipped 4% to 7.8p.
Heathrow on the spot
Heathrow Airport was slammed by workers’ union Unite, who blame “boardroom greed not coronavirus” for pay cuts of up to £8,000 a year being imposed on thousands of staff.
Unite said that 4,000 workers, many of whom are being asked to lose a quarter of their salary, are “the UK's latest victims of 'bandit capitalism' whereby the costs of bad boardroom decisions and reckless financial practices are dropped onto innocent workers”.
The total long-term debt across the group, which involves 13 different companies and subsidiaries, stands at an eye-watering £16.6bn, nearly double the debt of any of Heathrow’s comparator airports, according to the union.
The airport has assets valued at £15.8bn and reserves of £822mln in 2019, while it paid out £4bn in dividends to shareholders since 2012. This year the total distribution was £100mln.
Meanwhile, chief executive John Holland Kaye pocketed pay and pensions worth nearly £2.6mln in 2019, a remuneration package that is nearly three times that of equivalent airport bosses.
“The airport ought to have been more responsible with the vast profits it made between 2014-19 instead of squandering the money on dividends and increasing liabilities,” Unite commented.
“Senior management and the board are not being asked to contribute to the savings programme, only staff.”
“Our members' hard work has generated multi-million pound profits for this airport so we are determined that they are not going to pay for the corporate chaos and excess of Heathrow’s senior management, and the public will support them on this.”