North Ayrshire, alongside the rest of the country, moved down to level zero of the Scottish Government’s COVID restrictions yesterday.

Nicola Sturgeon confirmed the move last week. She was keen to stress that it does not mean that there will be no rules at all, saying: “Lifting all restrictions right now would put all of us at greater risk.”

However, she did say that on August 9 we could see the majority of remaining rules abolished.

In level zero, up to eight people from up to four households can meet indoors at home - compared to six people from three households in levels one and two.

Up to 10 people from up to four households can meet in a public indoor space – such as a pub or restaurant.

And up to 15 people from up to 15 households will be allowed to meet outdoors in a private garden or public place.

At weddings, 200 people will be allowed to attend and soft play centres can reopen too. Working from home is still encouraged.

It comes as cases nation-wide are increasing, in North Ayrshire however, they are coming down.

The total number of weekly positive cases of coronavirus in the area has decreased for the second week running.

Public Health Scotland figures show that there were 206 cases recorded between July 10-16, which is a massive decrease of 155 from the previous week.

It gives us a seven-day rate per 100,000 of population of 152.9, meaning we are one of the better performing council areas in the country at this moment in time, with only four local authority areas having a better rate.