Contact tracing is underway on the Isle of Arran after a number of positive coronavirus cases were confirmed.

The island had been 'virus free' for four months before the new cases of COVID-19 were reported.

Dr Joy Tomlinson, NHS Ayrshire and Arran's Joint Director of Public Health, said: "NHS Ayrshire & Arran’s Health Protection Team is completing contact tracing following a small number of confirmed COVID-19 positive cases on Arran. "

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When restriction came into place across the central belt and Ayrshire, some Arran residents branded the action 'grossly unfair' because the island had no cases, unlike the mainland.

Arran Medical Group, the island's GP surgery, announced it had been over four months without a positive test on September 29.

A spokesperson for the practice said: "Many had suspected we would see outbreaks over the last couple of months, given the volume of visitors to the island, and while it is difficult to work out which measures, locally and nationally, have contributed to the lack of cases here - clearly they have been successful.

"As we move toward winter and with cases rising nationally the future months are once again uncertain. The systems and facilities in place mean the island is well prepared should we see increasing cases but it will be a challenging winter for us all.

"Health and Social care will continues to operate under difficult conditions, with a wide range of measures in place to assess and contain any suspected cases and to protect those in our care."

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Until the positive cases revealed today, there had been just five people with COVID-19 confirmed on the island with a futher 20 to 30 cases clinically diagnosed early on in the pandemic.

Arran has its own testing centre, unlike many other island communities.