ALMOST eight per cent of Inverclyde Council's workforce was absent in mid-January as coronavirus puts pressure on attendance.

The absence rate on January 19 stood at 7.6 per cent.

This includes employees off sick, plus those isolating, off with caring responsibilities and 'non-essential employees unable to work from home'.

The local authority's historic average absence rate pre-pandemic was 4.6 per cent.

Home care was the hardest-hit sector, with 12 per cent of these workers off, while almost one in 10 of the waste management service were not at work.