Scotland has recorded its highest number of new Covid cases in a single day since the start of the pandemic last March.
New figures published on the Scottish Government website show 2,969 people tested positive for coronavirus in the past 24 hours.
Yesterday’s record of new cases hit 2,167, almost double on the previous day.
One person from Aberdeenshire has died of Covid in the last day, the figures also reveal.
This follows a death in Aberdeen the day before.
The death in Aberdeenshire is one of five across Scotland in the past day.
It comes a day after Nicola Sturgeon confirmed a three-week delay to the easing of lockdown restrictions to allow more people to get vaccinated.
She said: “To use the racing analogy, we must not allow the virus to get too far ahead of the vaccines.”
The data show 175 new positive cases of the virus were reported in the NHS Grampian area in the last 24 hours, up by 53 from yesterday.
Hospital admissions
Seven patients with Covid are being treated in NHS Grampian hospitals today, which is one less than the previous day.
In the NHS Highland area, there were 83 new positive cases of the virus recorded in the same period, almost double on yesterday’s figure of 44.
There are currently no patients being treated for Covid in NHS Highland hospitals and it has been that way since April 6.
Furthermore, one new case has been recorded on Orkney in the last 24 hours.
No new Covid cases were recorded in the Western Isles or Shetland.