Aberdeen is set to stay at level two of the Scottish Government’s Covid-19 framework when it is reviewed tomorrow.
The city has been in level two – the third tier of the system – since ministers agreed to adopt the approach at the start of this month.
Council leaders across Scotland have today been told which levels their local authorities are likely to be placed in at tomorrow’s weekly review.
There had been hope Aberdeen could move to level one, which would see some restrictions eased.
However, around 3.2% of tests for Covid-19 are being returned as positive – slightly higher than the criteria for moving from level two to level one.
But council co-leader Douglas Lumsden urged residents to “stick at it” – and said complying with the rules could mean an easing of restrictions next week.
He said: “Things are looking positive. When you look at the data, we are so close to being in level one.
“It’s only the positive rate of 3.2% which is stopping it as we’ve been told it needs to be below 3%.
“We will be asking the question of what exactly we need to do to make sure we move to level one as soon as possible.
“People need to keep doing what they are being asked to and following the rules. Things are not getting any worse which is a good thing.
“If we keep doing what we are doing just now, hopefully we will be able to move down a level soon.”
The news came as NHS Grampian reported 43 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours.
Aberdeen currently has an infection rate of 52.9 per 100,000 people.
Mr Lumsden added: “The key thing is we are not in a higher level, because that would have a devastating impact on the city.
“We all hope we move down soon. People just have to stick with it.”