A memorial to hundreds of East Ayrshire residents who died during the Covid-19 pandemic and tribute to those who were on the frontline is to be proposed by council leader Douglas Reid.

The SNP councillor will present the motion at full council on Thursday morning.
In his motion, Councillor Reid will say: “Now that the pandemic has been declared over by the World Health Organisation, East Ayrshire Council will seek to establish a permanent commemorative memorial to the victims of the recent Covid pandemic, and recognise the value of the sacrifices of our workers and our citizens during this crisis.

“We would seek wider consultation with the general public on the details, and bring proposals back to council through the Sounding Board to agree appropriate action.”

As well as medical professionals, community groups have been praised for their efforts to support and protect their communities during the pandemic.

According to statistics from the National Records of Scotland, 490 Covid-related deaths occurred in East Ayrshire between the start of 2020 and March 2023.

There were seven Covid-related deaths in East Ayrshire as late as February 2023.

The majority of deaths happened after patients had been taken to hospital.

As well as 359 deaths in hospital, 100 elderly residents died with Covid-related symptoms in care homes.

A further 31 people died at home.

The worst period was January 21 when 89 people died across East Ayrshire over a six week period – each having covid mentioned on their death certificate.

Across the whole Ayrshire and Arran Health Board area, a total of 1557 deaths mentioned covid between the beginning of 2020 and March 2023.

Of these 1086 were in hospital, 360 in care homes and 111 at home.