Almost half of NHS care homes in the Highlands are closed due to rising cases of Covid.
NHS Highland has also said wards are being forced to shut due to positive cases among patients and staff.
It comes after the board recorded its highest number of positive tests in a day this week, with 883 cases on December 28.
Health chiefs are urging people to remain cautious over the New Year festivities.
Between December 22 and 28 the health board had 2,889 new cases, double the number of cases recorded the previous week.
Since Boxing Day when more than 10,000 cases were reported across Scotland for the first time, with 1,720 of those recorded by NHS Highland.
Boyd Peters, medical director for NHS Highland, explained that said feedback from contact tracers shows that social gatherings and travel are leading to the high case numbers in the area.
He said: “We have already seen an increase in the area which we believe is linked to people traveling for Christmas and we are expecting the same to happen as people travel and meet up for New Year.
“The threat and impact of Covid remains a significant concern as modelling tells us a big increase in community infections now will cause serious issues in late January, both for individual patients and for the staffing of services.
“Our health and care system is fragile, the loss of staff to this variant through testing positive or the need to isolate has a huge impact on our ability to deliver the services needed across our patch and this is already a challenge.”
Appeal for ‘caution and care’ over Hogmanay and New Year
Scotland’s traditional large-scale Hogmanay celebrations have been cancelled as part of new Covid restrictions announced by Nicola Sturgeon last week.
The first minister also introduced new curbs on hospitality and urged people to “stay at home as much as possible”.
Mr Peters repeated the plea, but said he understood some people would still want to be with family and friends, so urged extra caution.
He said: “We recognise the desire for people to celebrate with family and friends at this time of year but we are appealing for caution and care during the New Year celebrations.”
The health board is appealing for the public to limit contact with others and to take regular lateral flow tests.
They stress that anyone displaying symptoms should book a PCR test and self-isolate until they receive their results.
NHS Highland urges that vaccination is the “biggest form of protection” against severe infection of the virus. Details of vaccination centres across the Highlands can be found here.
