Newcastle United fans are being urged to carefully consider whether or not to attend Monday night's Premier League game, amid rocketing Omicron cases.
The city's director of public health, Prof Eugene Milne, said fans must decide whether they were vulnerable.
The fixture against Manchester United is still due to take place, despite six matches being postponed last weekend.
Prof Milne also said he expected the government to bring in additional restrictions soon.
Omicron is now the dominant form of the virus in most parts of England and there are likely to be more than 3,000 cases in the North East, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.