The number of people with Covid being treated in NHS Grampian hospitals has hit its highest level since the beginning of the pandemic.
The latest total of 186 is three higher than the previous record, which was reported on Sunday, and only the second time the figure has been above 180.
There were five deaths of people who had recently tested positive for the virus in the Highland Council area, making the last 24 hours among the deadliest in the region since the pandemic started.
In NHS Highland hospitals, there were 135 patients with the virus, which is the same number as yesterday, while the number in Scotland has a whole rose by 37 since yesterday to 2,381.
The number of intensive care patients across the country has also risen, from 20 yesterday to 25 today.
There were 35 deaths of people with recently confirmed Covid in Scotland, up from 34 on Wednesday.
As well as the five recorded in the Highlands, there were two deaths in Moray.
New case numbers
In the past day, 9,064 new cases of the virus have been recorded across the country, down from 9,610 the day before – though Public Health Scotland has said this may be artificially low due to potential data flow issues.
Glasgow and Edinburgh both recorded more than 900 cases each.
There were 413 new cases in Aberdeenshire, 397 in the Highlands, 328 in Aberdeen City and 174 in Moray.
The Western Isles had 93 new cases, Shetland had 59 and there were 21 in Orkney.