The South Ayrshire surge in coronavirus appears to have been halted and case numbers are declining.

We reported last week how virus figures jumped up, owing in large part to a number of pupils testing positive as they returned to campuses following the Easter holidays.

The NHS test and protect scheme seems to have done its job, as since then the figures have come down again.

The weekly total now stands at 27 (compared with 43 last week) for April 23-29 according to the latest available statistics from Public Health Scotland.

No figures were published yesterday owing to the bank holiday so these statistics are not wholly up-to-date.

The new total gives the area a seven day rate per 100,000 per population of 24, which would see it placed in level two of the Scottish Government’s level system.

With the whole country moving to level three last week and plans for all of Scotland to move to level two on May 17 we asked the government if there would be a return of a more localised levels system.

A government spokesperson said the plan is for the country to move through the system as one, but didn’t rule out a return to local levels.

They said: “All restrictions are kept under review and we are continually monitoring the data to get Scotland back to as much normality as possible as quickly as it is safe to do so.

“The First Minister has outlined the preferred path being all of Scotland moving together to Level 2 on Monday May 17, though at all stages easing of restrictions will be dependent on the data and conditions at the time.”

All but five of the 25 neighbourhoods in South Ayrshire are currrently classified as having suppressed the virus.

South Ayrshire vaccination figures: 69.6 first dose, 34.8 per cent second.