North Ayrshire seems to have passed the peak of the most recent coronavirus surge, with cases dropping by almost 300 week-on-week.

The number of positive Covid tests being returned in North Ayrshire weekly has declined for the first time in weeks.

According to Public Health Scotland data, there were 841 positive tests in North Ayrshire between September 11-17.

That’s a huge decrease from 1,119 cases the week before.

It represents a seven-day rate per 100,000 of population of 626.4.

By that measure North Ayrshire is currently the sixth worst affected council area in the country.

In North Ayrshire, 93.9 per cent of those aged above 16 have received at least a first dose of a Covid vaccine and 87 per cent have received two doses.

The latest figures from the National Records of Scotland show four people died in Ayrshire between September 6-12, the highest weekly total since April.

The Covid vaccine passport scheme will come into effect soon, on Friday, October 1.

Nightclubs and large events will only be able to allow entry to people who can show they have had two doses of a Covid vaccine. The scheme has been introduced to allow events to go ahead despite surging cases of Covid-19 in communities.

It will work by accessing an NHS Scotland Covid Status App, available from September 30, which will show a QR code for each vaccination.

And there has been an update on vaccinating children with the news coming last week that all those aged 12 to 15 in the UK are to be offered one dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid jab.