People living in Scotland should be prepared for Covid restrictions to be extended, a health expert has warned.
Prof Linda Bauld, a public health expert at the University of Edinburgh, described the country's fight against coronavirus as a "fragile situation".
She said there has been no signs that the current infection rate is levelling off.
The figures have risen from a daily rate of fewer than 1,000 to more than 2,000 per day in recent days.
Speaking to BBC Scotland, she said: "It definitely is a fragile situation and you can see that we have more cases than we would expect at the current time.
"We may be starting to see some of the impacts of the Christmas mixing, but also we know around four in 10 cases, from recent data, are of the new variant.
"I would imagine that the new variant is playing a role in these higher rates of infection and if these numbers continue to sit at where they are we are going to have more people in hospital in a week or two's time, and that is very worrying.
"Mentally we just need to be prepared for the fact that we may be living with the level four restrictions for longer than the Scottish government currently plans," Prof Bauld said.
She said the new, more transmissible coronavirus variant would make it hard for schools to fully reopen on 18 January.
The government's education recovery group was preparing with schools for blended learning to go on longer if necessary, she added.
Her comments come as Scotland saw an increase of 2,137 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours.
However, this is lower than Friday's confirmed increase of 2,539 new cases.
No further deaths were recorded on Saturday as the register offices are closed over the public holidays.
As of December 31, 4,578 people who tested positive for Covid-19 have died.
The daily test positivity rate is now at 10.8% - up from 9.7% on Friday.
Despite all of mainland Scotland being in the highest tier of restrictions - and warnings to stay at home amid the rising number of cases - police still had to deal with Hogmanay revellers at landmarks including Edinburgh Castle.
The First Minister tweeted on Friday asking people to "take Covid seriously".
She wrote: "Take Covid seriously" - 3 words that can't be stressed enough just now. Please listen to this doctor."
