Nearly half of all Moray’s cases of Covid-19 recorded during the pandemic have been detected in January.
Public Health Scotland confirmed 23 people in the region had tested positive for coronavirus in the last 24 hours.
The update means that 368 cases of Covid-19 have already been recorded in Moray during January – more than double December’s 161 total and nearly half the 804 total since the beginning of the pandemic.
Warnings have been issued in recent weeks that the virus is circulating more in the region than at any point during the pandemic.
However, despite the recent increase, Moray has still recorded the least amount of cases per head of population on the Scottish mainland.
Further cases in the islands
Eight new Covid cases have been recorded in the Western Isles as Barra and Vatersay moved into Level 4 restrictions following an outbreak.
There were five new cases on Barra, bringing the total on the island, with a population of just over 1,000, to 45.
A new cluster of three cases was also discovered on South Uist.
The outbreak on Benbecula remained at five, with a spokeswoman confirming “the individuals who have tested positive are not permanent residents”, adding: “There are also no close contacts for these individuals.”
NHS Western Isles chief executive Gordon Jamieson said: “The message for Barra and Vatersay is please stay at home, protect your local health and social care services, save lives.”
The latest figures came as the health authority moved into ‘Wave 2’ of its mass vaccination programme, with the first over 75s now being invited to have it.
Three more people test positive on Shetland
In Shetland, another three new cases were confirmed on top of five earlier in the week, bringing the cumulative total since the pandemic began to just over 200.
While the cases were located across Shetland, there are now a number recorded in Yell.
Last week two deaths of patients with confirmed Covid were included in government statistics.
NHS Shetland’s consultant in public health Dr Susan Laidlaw said although numbers have significantly reduced, an average of three new cases a day were still being identified. This meant that Covid-19 was still circulating in the community.
She said: “It is really important to keep taking precautions to reduce spread in the coming months while we are all waiting to be protected by the vaccine.
“While we understand it is difficult not to give someone you love a hug or a kiss, you are placing each other at risk if one of you unknowingly has the virus.
“It is especially important to protect the older and more vulnerable members of our community.
“We have seen people being admitted to hospital and flown to the mainland and sadly people have died over the past month.
“The vaccination is being rolled out and once we know that is effective in the population then we will see life starting to get back to normal.”
Around 50 people a day have been attending a temporary Covid testing unit in Lerwick, with four positive tests returned so far.
NHS Highland, meanwhile, posted a graphic on their Facebook page to highlight the stark rise in cases across the region.
It shows there were 41 new cases in August, 257 in September, 425 the following month, 340 in November, another 953 in December, with 1,052 cases recorded in just the first 15 days of January.