Ayrshire has recorded a sharp fall in the number of weekly deaths attributed to coronavirus.
Latest figures from the National Records of Scotland show that between February 1 and February 7, a total of 27 deaths were registered in the region where COVID-19 was mentioned on the death certificate.
That's down 17 on the previous week's tally of 44.
Broken down by local authority, the weekly death rate has fallen from 17 to nine in North Ayrshire; 13 to four in South Ayrshire while in East Ayrshire the number remains unchanged at 14.
The encouraging news is tempered by data released on Wednesday that shows a further nine deaths from confirmed coronavirus have been reported in the region in the last 24 hours.
Five were in North Ayrshire and four in East Ayrshire.
A futher 97 people have tested positive for the disease while the number of Covid patients in NHS Ayrshire and Arran hospitals has fallen from 194 to 182.
There remains 12 people battling the virus in intensive care. Nationally, 803 new cases and 50 deaths have been recorded.
There are 1,542 people with the virus in hospitals across the country; 113 in intensive care.
