Deaths of people with Covid have been recorded in Aberdeenshire, the Highlands and Western Isles, as the number across Scotland reached its second-highest point since February.
There were 39 such deaths reported around the country, not reaching the high of 50 from September 24 but still higher than any other point since February 24.
Among them were two in Aberdeenshire and one each in the Highlands and the Western Isles – bringing the total reported on the islands since the beginning of the pandemic to 14.
The number of people in NHS Grampian hospitals with the virus remained at 61, the same as yesterday, and the number in ICU also showed no change, staying at eight.
In NHS Highland hospitals, there was a fall in hospital numbers, from 33 yesterday – the highest total since the second wave last winter – to 31 today.
A small decline in hospital numbers was also recorded across Scotland as a whole, from 988 to 980, though the number of people being treated in ICUs increase by one to 69.
The number of new Covid cases recorded around the country has fallen since yesterday, from 3,055 to 2,691.
Aberdeenshire recorded the fourth-highest number of new cases among all Scottish local authorities in the past 24 hours with 170, behind only Glasgow, Edinburgh and Fife.
In the past day, 5,897 people have been given their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine, while 2,780 received the second dose.