There have been eight more deaths related to Covid in the Ayrshire area in the last week according to new figures published by the National Records of Scotland.

The statistics, published earlier today, show that the weekly total of deaths where Covid-19 is mentioned on the death certificate is the highest it has been for five weeks.

There were five people from East Ayrshire who died between January 3-9.

There were two deaths in North Ayrshire.

And there was one person who died from South Ayrshire.

This is the first update issued by the NRS since December 22, due to the holiday period.

The weekly totals for the missed reporting weeks are as follows:

In the week beginning December 27 there were four Covid-related deaths in Ayrshire.

And in the week beginning December 20 there were six.

As of January 9, 2022, 12,543 deaths have been registered in Scotland where the novel coronavirus was mentioned on the death certificate.

In the week January 3-9, 72 deaths were registered that mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, an increase of 27 deaths from the previous week. 

12 deaths were aged under 65, 12 were aged 65-74 and there were 48 deaths in people aged 75 or over. 32 were male, 40 were female.

Fife (10 deaths) City of Edinburgh (8 deaths) and Glasgow City (7 deaths) had the highest numbers of deaths at council level. In total, 25 (out of 32) council areas had at least one death last week

49 deaths were in hospitals, 18 were in care homes and 5 were at home or in a non-institutional setting. 

NRS experts say that the current weekly death totals are 13 per cent lower than the five-year average.

However, they advise that the current figures may not be a true reflection of the number of dead, with the recent holiday period meaning many deaths would have gone unreported at the time, and will be accounted for in subsequent weeks.

Pete Whitehouse, Director of Statistical Services, said: “The latest figures show that last week there were 72 deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. This is 27 more deaths than the previous week.

“The number of deaths from all causes registered in Scotland in this week was 1,208, 13 per cent lower than the five year average.

“Statistics based on death registrations can be volatile at this time of year due to a combination of registration office opening hours, how public holidays fall, and decisions people take regarding registering a death during this period.  

"Care needs to be taken when interpreting data for the first and last few weeks of the year. The real trend will become clearer in the coming weeks.”