Oldham and parts of Blackburn and Pendle will face extra restrictions to stem the spread of Covid-19, according to the BBC.
From midnight on Saturday, residents in these areas will not be allowed to socialise with anyone from outside their household.
Workplaces, childcare facilities and businesses, including restaurants and pubs, will remain open.
Since July, the government has been introducing extra restrictions after a spike in coronavirus cases.
Elsewhere, Birmingham has been added to the government’s watch list, while authorities will intervene in Northampton.
But tighter rules in Wigan, Darwen and Rossendale are to be dropped.
Wigan and Rossendale originally faced tighter restrictions along with the rest of Greater Manchester and east Lancashire because of the wider region’s overall infection rate and concerns that the virus was being spread between households.
However, both have maintained low infection rates compared with other areas.
The additional measures in Oldham and parts of Pendle and Blackburn will not prevent people from shopping, going to work or attending child-care settings including schools, which open from 1 September.
However, any social activities indoors and outdoors can only be shared with people you live with and are in your immediate household.
Residents will be advised to avoid using public transport except for essential travel, and the number of people who can attend weddings, civil partnerships and funerals will be limited to household members and close family, with no more than 20 people.
Restaurants will also be encouraged to halt walk-ins, and only seat people who make reservations in advance.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “To prevent a second peak and keep Covid-19 under control, we need robust, targeted intervention where we see a spike in cases.
“Our approach is to make the action we take as targeted as possible, with the maximum possible local consensus.”
This will allow local councils to focus resources on the wards that need more targeted intervention, he added.
Councillor Sean Fielding, leader of Oldham Council, welcomed the announcement the town would not face business closures.
“Over the last few days we’ve made a clear argument that an economic lockdown was not the answer for Oldham,” he said.
“Instead we put forward a strong case to [the] government for a different approach – one where we increase testing, use our powers to drive compliance and enforcement among those not currently following guidelines, and carry out intensive door-to-door engagement in areas with higher cases.”
He added that he believed the tightened measures would “help reduce the spread of the virus”.
