The number of patients with Covid-19 currently being treated in NHS Highland hospitals has reached 29 – the highest point since the first wave of the pandemic in April last year.
The health board is still far from hitting from hitting its full capacity of 147, though.
A more significant proportion of beds are being used in Grampian, with 120 patients out of a total capacity of 166.
However, that represents a fall of four patients from yesterday – more good news after Sunday saw the first decline in the number of people in north-east hospitals for two weeks.
There were 113 new coronavirus cases recorded in the NHS Grampian health board area, to bring its total since the beginning of the pandemic to 11,254.
NHS Highland, meanwhile, recorded 21 more cases of the virus, which is the lowest daily total there so far this year.
The Western Isles had 14 more cases as health officials there try to stymie the spread of an outbreak there, while Shetland and Orkney reported three cases and one case respectively.
Across Scotland, 1,429 new cases were reported, to bring the country’s total since the start of the pandemic to 163,762.
No new deaths were recorded, though that is not unusual for a Monday due to the closure of register offices over the weekend.
There are currently 1,959 people around the country in hospital with the virus, and 146 of those are in intensive care.
Scotland’s test positivity rate in the past day was 12.3%, the highest it has been for almost two weeks.