New statistics from the National Records of Scotland show that the weekly total of Covid deaths in Ayrshire has increased to its highest level in 10 weeks.

The report, published today, says there were 14 deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate in the NHS Ayrshire and Arran health board area between January 17-23.

That's the highest weekly total since the week beginning November 8, when there were 15 deaths recorded.

It comes after record number of Covid cases were being recorded earlier this month as the Omicron wave swept through the country.

Case numbers have dropped dramatically since then.

There were eight deaths from East Ayrshire, four from North Ayrshire, and two from South Ayrshire in the latest figures

As of January 23, 12,823 deaths have been registered in Scotland where the novel coronavirus was mentioned on the death certificate.

In the week from January 17-23, 145 deaths were registered that mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate, an increase of 10 deaths from the previous week.

16 deaths were aged under 65, 18 were aged 65-74, and there were 111 deaths in people aged 75 or over.

Glasgow City (17 deaths), Fife (16 deaths) and North Lanarkshire (13 deaths) had the highest numbers of deaths at council level. In total, 28 (out of 32) council areas had at least one death last week.

Of the 145 deaths in the latest figures for Scotland, 91 occurred in hospitals, 43 were in care homes, nine were at home or in a non-institutional setting, and there were two deaths in other institutions.

Pete Whitehouse, director of statistical services at the NRS, said: “The latest figures show that last week there were 145 deaths where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate. This is 10 more deaths than the previous week.

“The number of deaths from all causes registered in Scotland in this week was 1,331, which is 5 per cent fewer than the five year average.”