The weekly covid-19 cases total in Glasgow has fallen for the first time this year.

But a number of communities were still in the highest category with well above 400 cases per 100,000 population.

According to the latest statistics cases in the city have dropped the lowest seven-day total since Christmas.

The seven days up to Friday January 22 there were 1688 positive cases recorded in Glasgow.

READ MORE: Coronavirus: Glasgow areas with the lowest cases in last week

It is a drop from 2136 for the previous seven days, up to January 15. And is the lowest since Christmas day when the previous seven days showed 1036 new cases.

The city’s seven-day rate per 100,000 a key indication used by the government in setting lockdown restrictions has dropped from 337 per 100,000 on January 15 to 266 per 100,000 on January 22.

It appears to be evidence of what Nicola Sturgeon said was “grounds for cautious optimism that community transmission as starting to reduce.

It is hoped to be the start of a trend of coronavirus reducing as the lockdown restrictions take effect and the vaccination programme gets rolled out to more people.

In Glasgow the area with the highest level of covid-19 in the last seven days was Drumry East, where the 25 cases recorded was 753 per 100,000 population.

The neighbourhood in the west of Glasgow was one of 24 in the city with a rate of more than 400, shown as the darkest purple on the map.

The next highest was Milton East followed by Drumry West. The five highest were completed with Carnwadric west and Baillieston West.

The other areas in the ten highest in Glasgow were Summerston Central and North, Drumchapel North, North Barlanark/Easterhouse South, Penilee and Carntyne.

There were another 68 areas where the rate was between 200 and 399 per 100,000 shown as the second darkest purple on the map.

They ranged from Petershill with 14 cases which works out at 387 per 100,000 and Crookston North at 12 which is 386 per 100,00 to Blairdardie East with 11 cases at 200 per 100,000 and Keppochill with 10 which is 204 per 100,000 population. Another 32 communities had a rate of 100 to 199 shown as the darker grey on the map.

They included at the higher end of the scale, Baillieston East with 14 cases, which is 196 per 100,000 and Knightswood at 5 which is also 196 as it has a much lower population.

At the lower end there were Knightswood Park east with 4 cases equal to 103 per 100,000 and Anderston, at 6, which is 107 per 100,000.

Glasgow is still much higher than the Scottish average and higher than all but one other council area. Only North Lanarkshire, with 284 cases per 100,000 population, is higher than Glasgow.

Renfrewshire at 252 and South Lanarkshire at 234 are the next highest, with East Dunbartonshire at 231 making up the five highest areas in the country.

The lowest are Orkney at 35 per 100,000, Argyll and Bute, 60, Shetland, 65, Highland, 79 and East Lothian, 97 per 100,000.