Inverness and neighbouring area had more than 300 confirmed Covid-19 coronavirus cases in the seven days up to January 4, data from Public Health Scotland has shown
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MORE than 300 Covid-19 cases were detected in and around Inverness in the space of seven days, Public Health Scotland has revealed.
There were at least 309 known cases in the seven days up to January 4, the most recent date for which data has been released.
This was up from almost 280 infections in the seven days up to January 3, and nearly 240 cases in the week up to January 2 – signalling a growing prevalence of the virus in the Highland capital area.
Worst affected neighbourhood inside Inverness in the period up to January 4 was Inshes, which had 26 cases.
Smithton was next on 23, with Westhill on 20.
However, these were dwarfed by the city's neighbouring Inverness West Rural ward, which reported 82 infections. Inverness East Rural had 25.
The latest figures were released as Highland Council's infection rate continued its recent sharp rise.
The local authority area recorded 237.5 cases for every 100,000 people in the seven day window leading up to January 4.
This broke the previous record of 212.9 which was set just yesterday, although it is still lower than the Scotland-wide ratio of 299.5 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
The Highland Council area recorded 560 infections in the seven days up to January 4, while Scotland had 16,362 positive tests over the same time frame.
For the latest Covid map visit Public Health Scotland's online portal.
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