The total number of weekly Covid cases being recorded in North Ayrshire continues to rise.

The latest data from Public Health Scotland available at the time of writing show that there were 1,521 positive LFD and PCR test results returned in the area between February 26 - March 4.

That’s an increase from 830 in the previous seven-day period.

It gives us a seven-day rate per 100,000 of population of 1,133.

The whole country appears to be seeing rising case numbers, with North Ayrshire currently the thirteenth-worst affected council area by this measure.

And the increase in case numbers is also translating into higher hospital admissions for patients with a Covid-related illness.

Yesterday, there were 110 patients in Ayrshire hospitals because of Covid-19. That’s up from 91 on the same day the week before.

Intensive care unit admissions however, do not yet appear to be rising, with fewer than five in Ayrshire and 18 in Scotland as a whole.

On vaccinations, 94.4 per cent of the population in North Ayrshire aged 12 and over have had at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, 89.1 per cent have had two, and 74.1 per cent have had three.

And statistics from the National Records of Scotland show that there were six people who died in Ayrshire where Covid-19 was mentioned on their death certificate between February 21-27. Two of them from North Ayrshire.

Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland yesterday, clinical director Jason Leitch said: “”People shouldn’t panic, but this disease is not over, and it is not done with us.”