Covid cases have soared in recent days as the so-called ‘stealth Omicron’ variant sweeps through the population.
The most recent data published by the Scottish Government saw 13,220 new cases of Covid recorded in 24 hours on Friday last week.
It was the fourth day in a row where daily cases of the virus exceeded 10,000.
The number of people in hospital has also risen to 1,663 - which is the highest recorded since February 2021.
Scotland’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Sir Gregor Smith, said that the recent surge in cases is being driven by the “now dominant” BA.2 variant, which is also known as stealth Omicron.
The public health expert said that there is evidence to suggest that it is more transmissible than the original Omicron strain, BA.1.
But there is so far no evidence to suggest that the new Omicron strain results in more severe disease than the previous variant.
Scottish Health Secretary Humza Yousaf recently expressed his ‘concern’ over the recent Covid data.
The most up-to-date data released by Public Health Scotland shows that the area with the highest Covid infection rate was in the Orkney Islands - with a seven-day positive rate of 2,321.4 per 100,000 population.
Na h-Eileanan Siar, East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire and East Dunbartonshire also made the top five.
Dundee City has the lowest rates of Covid infection in Scotland, with a seven day positive rate of 1,029.4 per 100,000 population.
Here is the seven positive rate per 100,000 population for every local authority area in Scotland for the week between March 2 and March 8.
- Orkney Islands - 2321.4
- Na h-Eileanan Siar - 2192.5
- East Ayrshire - 1791.9
- North Ayrshire - 1667.8
- East Dunbartonshire - 1646.9
- Clackmannanshire - 1604.6
- Falkirk - 1582.6
- Highland - 1524.9
- East Renfrewshire - 1513.6
- West Dunbartonshire - 1487.4
- Argyll and Bute - 1481.9
- South Lanarkshire - 1481.8
- Angus - 1467.8
- Aberdeenshire - 1452.9
- Shetland Islands - 1447.3
- Inverclyde - 1388.5
- Moray - 1370.8
- Renfrewshire - 1359.1
- North Lanarkshire - 1334.1
- East Lothian - 1305.8
- Stirling - 1276.6
- South Ayrshire - 1253.8
- Midlothian - 1238.9
- West Lothian - 1208.8
- Scottish Borders - 1188.8
- City of Edinburgh - 1113.5
- Perth and Kinross - 1104.6
- Fife - 1084.6
- Aberdeen City - 1066.5
- Glasgow City - 1065.2
- Dumfries and Galloway - 1043.9
- Dundee City - 1029.4
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