The National Records of Scotland have released their weekly statistics regarding the number of people who died where the cause of death was linked to the novel coronavirus.

Ayrshire as a whole saw six deaths where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate for the week March 29-April 4. 

That's the same amount as was recorded in the area the week before.

East Ayrshire saw a decline, with one person losing their life, compared with five the week before.

There were three deaths recorded in South Ayrshire, an increase of two from last week.

And in North Ayrshire there was an increase from no deaths to two recorded in the latest statistics.

As of April 4, 9,997 deaths have been registered in Scotland where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.

In the week March 29 – April 4, 38 deaths were registered that mentioned COVID-19 on the death certificate, a decrease of 24 deaths from the previous week.

The National Records of Scotland say there were fewer registrations than usual this week due to the public holiday on Friday April 2, when most registration offices were closed.

So, death registrations are likely to have been lower than the actual number of deaths that occurred in this week.

The majority of deaths occurred in hospitals, representing 29 deaths, with five deaths at home or in non-institutional settings and four deaths in care homes.

47 per cent of deaths were people aged 75 and over, representing 18 deaths, and eight deaths were people aged under 65.

Pete Whitehouse, Director of Statistical Services, said: “We are seeing an encouraging reduction in the number of deaths involving COVID-19 but I am very conscious that these figures represent painful losses for families across Scotland.

“While registered deaths continue to fall, care should be taken when interpreting this week’s figures. These have been affected by the recent public holiday as there may have been a delay in registering some deaths.”