Covid-19 boosters are being rolled out across the country, however people are still being asked to exercise caution around coronavirus, as case numbers remain high.
Covid case rates in the north and north-east have risen in some areas this week compared to the previous week. Because of the time of year, and the discovery of the new Covid variant Omicron, extra caution is being urged.
Our interactive maps below show the case rate by intermediate zone for Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Highland and Moray. The islands have not been included as case numbers tend to be very low and are often suppressed as a result.
Each intermediate zone (IZ), represents an area, quite often a neighbourhood, within each local authority.
Hovering over each area will give additional information including the population of each neighbourhood, how many positive cases have been recorded there in the past seven days, and the seven-day case rate per 100,000 population – a measure which is used to compare areas with different populations against each other to accurately track the spread of the virus.
Below includes details for case rates accurate as of December 6, which was the latest information at the time of writing, as this data is subject to a three-day lag in being uploaded by Public Health Scotland.
We have compared case rates to previous seven-day periods to provide context about whether cases are rising or falling in your area.
What are case rates like in Aberdeen?
Although case rates in Aberdeen remain quite high, all areas are currently under a seven day case rate of 1,000 per 100,000 population – unlike other areas of Scotland, and case rates have been falling.
The area with the highest seven day case rate per 100,000 population in Aberdeen on December 6, is Kincorth, Leggart and Nigg South with a case rate of 690.06.
This is followed by Bucksburn South with a case rate of 560.79 and Oldmachar East, with a case rate of 544.96, both per 100,000 population.
These are all below the previous week’s highest seven day case rate in Aberdeen, in Bucksburn South, which was 874.83 per 100,000 population.
In the latest seven day period, Kincorth, Leggart and Nigg South recorded 35 positive Covid-19 cases out of a population of 5072, Bucksburn South saw 25 out of a population of 4458 and Oldmachar East had 26 positive Covid-19 cases in a population of 4771.
What are case rates like in Aberdeenshire?
Like in Aberdeen, cases in Aberdeenshire are high, but not as high as some other areas of Scotland.
The three highest seven day case rates in Aberdeenshire were recorded in Ellon West, Fraserburgh Lochpots and Ellon East respectively.
Ellon West had a seven day case rate per 100,000 population of 624.84, followed by Fraserburgh Lochpots at 574.97 and Ellon East with 573.21.
Ellon West saw 25 positive Covid-19 tests in the previous seven days out of a population of 4001, while Fraserburgh Lochpots had 13 cases in a population of 2261 and Ellon East recorded 35 Covid-19 positive results out of 6106 residents.
This is the second week in a row that Ellon West and Ellon East have been in the top three highest case rates in Aberdeenshire, although both have fallen this week from 924.77 and 704.23 per 100,000 population respectively.
What are case rates like in Moray?
Case rates have risen in Moray this week.
The map shows that Heldon West, Fogwatt to Inchberry had the highest seven day case rates per 100,000 of the population on December 6, at 1019.43.
This is higher than last week’s highest neighbourhood rate, in Buckie West and Mains of Buckie, which had a seven day case rate of 632.01 per 100,000 of the population on November 29.
New Elgin West recorded the second highest case rate this week, with 706.80, followed by Elgin Bishopmill West and Newfield with 668.58, both per 100,000 population.
Heldon West, Fogwatt to Inchberry reported a total of 53 positive Covid-19 cases in a population of 5199 within the previous seven day period, while the same numbers were 29 positive cases in New Elgin West out of a population of 4103 and 21 in Elgin Bishopmill West and Newfield, out of a population of 3141.
What are case rates like in the Highlands?
Case rates in the Highlands have also risen slightly this week.
The highest seven day case rate per 100,000 of the population was recorded in Ross and Cromarty Central with 888.77. This was followed by Inverness Inshes with a case rate of 701.02 per 100,000 population, and Nairn East, with 694.62 per 100,000 population.
This overtakes the previous week’s highest seven day case rate in the Highlands, in Inverness Westhill, which was 732.3 per 100,000 population.
Of the highest areas this week, Ross and Cromarty Central saw 33 positive Covid-19 cases in the seven day period prior to December 6 out of a population of 3713. Meanwhile, Inverness Inshes had 40 positive cases out of a population of 5706, and Nairn East had 28 cases in a population of 4031, both in the same time frame.
There were several areas within the Highlands in which seven day case rates were suppressed – which means there was less than two positive cases within the week period.
These were Inverness Muirtown, Skye North East, Skye North West, Ross and Cromarty North West, Wick North, Caithness North East, Caithness North West, Thurso East and Thurso West.
Where in Scotland has the highest case rates?
The chart below shows the top 10 neighbourhoods in Scotland with the highest seven day case rates per 100,000 population.
No local neighbourhoods were in the top 10 this week. Last week Ellon West in Aberdeenshire placed tenth on the list with a case rate of 924.77 per 100,000 population.
The case rate in Ellon West has decreased to 624.84 per 100,000 population, as of December 6, and is now 128th highest out of 1,279 Scottish neighbourhoods.
Meanwhile, the below chart tracks the average seven day case rate for local authorities in the north and north-east.
At December 9, Moray maintains the highest case rate of the local authorities in the north and north-east with 392.4.
