Covid cases in North Ayrshire, like most other places in the country, have begun rising again, with the area seeing a surge in positive test results.

With the Omicron variant having been confirmed as being present in Ayrshire, cases of Covid in the area have rocketed.

According to data from Public Health Scotland there were 477 cases recorded between November 28-December 4, an increase from 358 the previous week.

There has still only been two confirmed cases of Omicron in Ayrshire, so it does not appear that the recent surge is the result of the new mutation.

Yesterday morning, following the closure of a school in Paisley due to an Omicron outbreak, Professor Jason Leitch warned that no venue was safe from closure.

He said: “I’m expecting there to potentially be other location closures before Christmas.

“That’s random – it might be a school, might be a call centre, might be my office, might be yours.

“It depends where Omicron appears.”

Nicola Sturgeon, in a Covid briefing yesterday afternoon coinciding with the three-weekly Covid restrictions review, said that there would be no change to the current measures but that the Scottish Government was keeping the possibility of further restrictions under daily review in the wake of surging cases.

She did however reiterate the call for employers to make working at home possible for workers.

Covid cases nationwide are on the up, with the First Minister saying that the majority of cases were among the under 60s, with the over 60s, having recently received a booster jag, seeing a reduction in the number of infections.