The number of people in hospital who have Covid-19 is continuing to grow – with more than 900 patients having tested positive for the virus.
That represents a rise of 45 people in just 24 hours.
Eighty-seven people are also in intensive care after a positive test.
It comes as the latest figures show 6,836 new cases have been confirmed.
More than 1,000 of the new cases are in Tayside and Fife – including 273 in Dundee.
Covid rates in Tayside and Fife
Fife’s Covid-19 case tally has increased by 536, while Angus recorded 100 new cases. Perth and Kinross has recorded 199 new infections.
Twelve new deaths were recorded in Scotland, including one person in Fife. It means the death toll amongst people who recently tested positive now stands at 8,210.
The seven-day case rate per 100,000 in Fife is now only 10 points behind Dundee, the closest it has been since April.
The kingdom has a rate of 831 infections per 100,000 people, whilst Dundee recorded a week-long rate of 841.
It comes after Nicola Sturgeon warned on Wednesday that case numbers are still too high, describing the more transmissible Delta variant as a “game-changer”.
“The levels of infection across the country remain far too high,” she said.
“That is why we must continue to monitor the situation very closely and be prepared – as any responsible government must be – to take any targeted and proportionate action that we consider necessary to keep the country as safe as possible.”
Referring to the pressure on the NHS, Ms Sturgeon said that more cases would result in more people requiring hospital care.
Unless this was brought under control, she said, “the NHS will come under pressure even more severe than it is already dealing with”.
She added: “The pressure it’s already dealing with, and this point cannot be overstated, is already very severe.
“So we cannot, and must not, let up in our efforts to stem this current surge.”
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