The funeral of a much-loved Irvine man who died of suspected COVID-19 will be livestreamed for friends who can't attend under lockdown.

Tributes were shared widely on social media after popular Kilmarnock FC fan, Independence campaigner and father-of-two John Barry passed away aged 56 on Wednesday, March 25 after falling unwell.

While his grieving family were unable to get John officially tested, doctors blamed the potentially deadly virus, with suspected COVID-19 recorded on his death certificate.

The Scottish Government has since announced it is changing the way it compiles data on the number of coronavirus deaths in the country, with only laboratory-confirmed cases by health boards previously counted. 

From this week, the daily figures will start to include all deaths where the virus is officially suspected to have been a factor, even if it has not been confirmed by testing records from the death registration process.  

A family member told the Times: “I think it was about time, people's families were left not knowing a definite answer and then these people weren’t getting counted. 

“We don’t know the right numbers, and how many people have been told to self isolate but not knowing they have got it. It’s horrendous.  

“It was amazing to see all the tributes to him, it was a huge comfort to us to see how loved and respected he was by his friends. We’ve got friends coming out of our ears.

“There’s going to be a livestream. The Largs crematorium has that which is good in this situation when no one can really get to funerals but it’s handy in general if you’ve got relatives that live abroad and can’t get back, it's a nice idea."  

To view the service, which starts at 10am Thursday April 9 at Clyde Coast and Garnock Valley Crematorium click here using login 21839 and enter the password wqjbyqmk

***********

Scotland is in lockdown. Shops are closing and newspaper sales are falling fast. We’re not exaggerating when we say that the future of this paper, and the vital local news service we’ve provided for over a century, is under threat.

Please consider supporting our work in whatever way you can – by paying just 90p for a copy of the paper, when you’re shopping for essential supplies for yourself and others, or by subscribing to our e-edition available in the menu above.

Thanks – and stay safe.