Stark virus warning as East Ayrshire Council chief pays tribute to 355 Covid victims in region

East Ayrshire Council’s chief executive has marked the second anniversary of the Covid lockdown by remembering residents who died having caught the virus.More than a third of East Ayrshire residents, around 43,000, have tested positive for Covid in the two years since the announcement of lockdown on March 23, 2020.Eddie Fraser, the EAC chief executive, took time to remember the 355 people who died having tested positive for the virus.He also warned that Covid continued to impact on the people of East Ayrshire, while praising the impact of a vaccination programme that has seen almost three-quarters of over 12s in the authority receiving three doses of the vaccine.He said: ”I wanted to take a brief moment to reflect on what the impact has been for East Ayrshire and to record my admiration and thanks to our communities, our partners and our employees, for their courage, compassion and sacrifice, throughout these past two years.“More than a third of East Ayrshire’s population, some 43,000 people, have tested positive for the virus since March 2020.“Even now, Covid continues to be highly prevalent in our communities and in the last week alone, more than 2,700 positive tests were confirmed.“Public services are still under enormous pressure, particularly in areas such as education, health and social care and in recent days, there has been a rise in the number of people in hospital testing positive for Covid.“Since the start of the pandemic, 355 people who tested positive for the virus have sadly died in East Ayrshire, leaving behind friends and family who will forever feel their absence.“The pandemic has claimed the lives of too many people and my heartfelt condolences go out to everyone who has lost loved ones to the virus and