A popular Birmingham restaurant has become the first in the city to be warned for breaching Covid-19 guidelines during an enforcement crackdown, Birmingham city council said.

The Tipu Sultan eatery in Alcester Road, Moseley, was given a direction order from the city council on Thursday.

The order came after local authority officers responded to “approximately 25 reports” of events being held on the premises with “significantly more” than the maximum 30 people allowed.

Officers also found the restaurant’s own safety measures in its risk assessment were not always followed, and queuing was not being controlled “in an acceptable manner”.

New powers to force premises to follow UK government Covid-19 guidance were handed to the local authority on Wednesday.

Restrictions on mixing between different households in homes or gardens in Burnley and Hyndburn will be lifted from next Wednesday (2 September) in line with the rest of England, according to public health officials in Lancashire.

However, with infection rates still above the national average in both boroughs, residents are warned not to become complacent and to be sensible.

Lancashire’s director of public health, Dr Sakthi Karunanithi, said:

People living in Burnley and Hyndburn will be pleased that government has lifted the additional restrictions in their areas, but this should not lead to complacency.

In both Burnley and Hyndburn infection rates are significantly above the national average with an increasing rate in Hyndburn.

Coronavirus does not respect administrative boundaries and there is a high volume of social, educational and commuting travel between these areas and Lancashire’s hotspots.

The virus is very much still present in both Burnley and Hyndburn so residents must play their part to help protect themselves, their families and their communities.

Elsewhere in the county, all existing restrictions remain. This means that in Preston and parts of Pendle residents still can’t have visitors or visit others in their homes or gardens, or socialise with friends at indoor venues, but they can continue to meet in groups of up to six in outdoor public areas.

Residents in other parts of Pendle and in the northern part of Blackburn with Darwen still have additional restrictions which means they cannot socialise with anyone outside their own household, anywhere indoors or outdoors, and should only use public transport if essential.

Enforcement action has been taken at an NHS trust amid concerns over infection control, including people contracting Covid-19 in hospital, PA Media reports.

The Care Quality Commission said it had launched action at East Kent Hospitals University NHS foundation trust following an inspection earlier this month.

Inspectors were responding to concerns about standards of care and risk to patients.

The watchdog would not comment on the nature of the enforcement action, but the PA understands it relates to infection control including levels of hospital-acquired coronavirus.

The trust – which runs three acute hospitals – has been under the spotlight in recent weeks in relation to Covid-19.

Prof Ted Baker, the CQC’s chief inspector of hospitals, said:

As a result of serious concerns we have taken immediate enforcement action at East Kent Hospitals University NHS foundation trust.

CQC inspectors visited the trust on Tuesday 12 August 2020 after concerns were raised about the standards of care and the risk to patients.

The CQC said it would be inappropriate to comment on the details of the investigation since East Kent Hospitals had a right to appeal against the action.

A spokesman for the trust said:

Keeping our patients and staff safe is always our top priority.

We have reviewed and are strengthening our procedures and training, overseen by an experienced director of infection prevention and control.

We are asking our staff to always follow recommended guidance, are making further physical changes to our buildings to improve infection control and support social distancing, and have reported on this progress to the Care Quality Commission, while being supported by NHS England and NHS Improvement.

The trust is also subject to an independent review in relation to its maternity service. Care for mothers and newborn babies has been heavily criticised following a series of baby deaths.

Staff at Ikea Glasgow are threatening to strike after the store sacked a trade union rep fighting cuts to workers’ sick pay, the Daily Record reports.

The changes to working conditions at Ikea in the UK, set to come into force next month, include a penalty system for absences whereby if a worker has been absent twice over a year they will only receive basic statutory sick pay.

This would see many workers relying on statutory sick pay of only £95 a week if they have Covid-19 or have to self-isolate.

Ikea then fired Glasgow-based USDAW union rep Richie Venton who gave workers forewarning of the changes, on the grounds of breaching confidentiality of negotiations.

Staff at the Braehead store said the changes would amount to sick workers feeling pressured to come into work, putting themselves, colleagues and customers at risk.

I’m grateful to a reader in Edinburgh for flagging this. You can read the Daily Record’s front page story here.

An estimated 28,200 people within private households in England had Covid-19 between 14 and 20 August, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics.

This was the equivalent of around 0.05% of the population or one in 1,900 individuals.

This estimate is broadly unchanged from the previous week of 7 to 13 August which had an equivalent of around 0.05% of the population, or one in 2,200 individuals.

The figures do not include people staying in hospitals, care homes or other institutional settings.

The ONS said while recent figures had suggested some evidence of a small rise in the percentage of people testing positive for Covid-19 in July, following a low point in June, this continues to level off.

Doing the broadcast rounds this morning, the transport secretary Grant Shapps reminded the public that breaking quarantine is a criminal offence and puts the lives of others at risk. He said 4,200 cases of people breaking quarantine rules had been referred to the police.

Asked about the case of an individual who attempted to board a flight despite having received a positive test result from NHS test and trace, Shapps told LBC that people who tested positive needed to stay home:

You’re not just doing this for yourself, you’re doing it for those around you. Don’t put other people’s lives at risk. Not only that, when you do that, you are committing offences as well.

As with breaking a quarantine, if you come home from one of these countries that is quarantined, it is a criminal offence, it goes on your criminal record.

Don’t break your quarantine and for goodness sake be sensible.

He later reiterated on Times Radio that breaking quarantine was “a serious matter” that came with a risk of getting a criminal record as well as a fine. He added:

More than that though, you are in danger of putting other people’s lives at risk and that of course is a much more serious matter.

You can find the full list of travel corridors, as well as which countries are no longer exempt from quarantine rules and further information about what is required upon arrival in the UK here.

The north-west of England had the highest coronavirus mortality rate for the month of July, but figures for all regions have decreased since the previous month, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics.

There were 2.8 deaths involving Covid-19 per 100,000 of population for the north-west, down from 9.2 in June, when it was also the region with the highest rate.

The south-west had the lowest rate again, with 0.3 deaths per 100,000 population, down from 2.1 in June.

In London the rate was 1.2 for July, down from 3.1 in June.

The ONS figures, which take into account the age of population, are based on all deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate and which had been registered by 15 August.