More patients with Covid are being treated in NHS Highland hospitals than at any other point in more than nine months, the latest Scottish Government figures reveal.
There are currently 36 people who have tested positive for the virus in the board’s hospitals, an increase of two from yesterday.
The last time the figure was higher was February 3, just a week after the peak of the second wave, when 37 people were being treated.
However, there are still fewer than five patients in the health board’s ICU. Numbers below that level are not included in the official statistics for confidentiality reasons.
NHS Grampian has also recorded a jump in its hospital figures, from 72 yesterday to 80 today, but the figure is still below the latest peak of 91 recorded at the beginning of this month.
There are 11 people currently being treated in the intensive care unit at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, the only such unit in the health board area.
Around Scotland, the number of patients in hospital increased by 12 from yesterday, to 786, while the number in ICU increase from 57 to 63.
Deaths and cases
In the past 24 hours, 29 people in Scotland have died with the coronavirus.
They include two people in Aberdeen and one each in Aberdeenshire and the Highlands.
There were 3,235 new cases of Covid recorded around the country in the past day, with NHS Grampian reporting the third-highest figure among Scotland’s health boards.
Only NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde and NHS Lothian recorded more.
Both the Western Isles and Orkney recorded eight new cases, while Shetland recorded 21.