Scotland's chief medical officer has assured the rising Covid-19 cases and the resulting higher hospital occupancy in the country are being "intensely scrutinised".
It comes as coronavirus cases north of the border hit their highest levels since estimates began.
Scotland has seen levels of infection rise for six weeks in a row, according to figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS).
Professor Sir Gregor Smith warned the current dominant sub-type of the Omicron variant BA-2 is especially "good at spreading in households and closed environments".
READ MORE: Covid Scotland: ONS data shows infection levels highest on record
However, the chief medical officer emphasised that our "relationship with the Covid-19 disease is changing" and that an uncontrolled rise in cases "isn't evident".
Writing on Twitter, he said: "I see understandable interest/apprehension about rising case rates and hospital occupancy in Scotland.
"Horrific events in Europe mean less opportunity to explain this in media or briefings (rightly) but I want to reassure it continues to be intensely monitored & assessed.
"Case rates are increasing across all age groups, driven by now dominant sub-type of omicron BA-2.
"Though more transmissible than BA-1, there’s no evidence it is associated with more severe disease than predecessors."
1/ I see understandable interest / apprehension about rising case rates & hospital occupancy in Scotland. Horrific events in Europe mean less opportunity to explain this in media or briefings (rightly) but I want to reassure it continues to be intensely monitored & assessed
— Prof Sir Gregor Smith (@DrGregorSmith) March 11, 2022
On Wednesday, the number of people in hospital with Covid hit its highest level in 13 months with 1636 people hospitalised.
Professor Smith warned the increase in hospitalisations "contribute to increased healthcare pressures which are immense for colleagues."
The rise in hospital occupancy is especially being seen in individuals over the age of 60, but the chief medical officer added occupancy is affected by background rates community transmission and longer length of stay as well as direct transmission of Covid-19.
"However, admissions have not risen as sharply as occupancy and we’re not seeing the same volume of severe disease as before; ICU admissions are very low & stable, " he added.
"At this point, this is very encouraging and there is no signal on excess deaths data. This is all scrutinised intensely.
He urged the public to keep up efforts to contain the spread such as wearing face coverings and avoiding crowded indoor spaces.
"So whilst there’s no room for complacency, the relationship with C19 disease is changing.
"Uncontrolled cases will still cause unmanageable pressures, increased deaths and resilience issues in services, but at present, this isn’t evident. All of us can play a role preventing this.
"By acting together, for each other, when cases are extremely high we can help contain further spread."
READ MORE: New Covid variant: Deltracron symptoms and what we know
The vaccination rate also remains under study, with the third booster jab continuing "to hold up very strongly against sever disease".
He added: "We’re also keeping a very close watch on vaccine effectiveness studies - the good news here is that length of protection after 3rd dose continues to hold up very strongly against severe disease.
"The UK, and Scotland in particular, leads the world in publishing these studies."
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