New restrictions could be imposed in Scotland after the Health Secretary announced the NHS is "at capacity".
Humza Yousaf told MSPs that the government continues to "explore all options" when dealing with coronavirus across the country.
The SNP minister announced that 26 covid deaths were announced in the last 24 hours.
There were 2,010 new Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, according to the latest data.
It means the death toll under this daily measure - of people who first tested positive for the virus within the previous 28 days - is 9,189.
Speaking to MSPs, Yousaf said: "Cases remain much lower than the previous peak around the start of September. But the decline in new cases has halted in recent weeks – and, at around 2,500 new cases per day, it is still at a level well above previous lows.
"There are early signs that case numbers may increase again hereafter. The situation remains precarious.
"As you would expect, presiding officer, the Scottish Government continues to explore all options for how it will respond to the evolving pandemic and we will not hesitate to strengthen the protective measures in place if it proves necessary to do so.
"The uncertainty and risk we face as Winter progresses means now is certainly not the time to relax our approach. We all need to redouble our efforts to adhere to the protective measures in place and follow the guidance."
The daily test positivity rate was 13.5 per cent, up from 10.8 per cent the previous day, according to data published on Tuesday.
However, the Scottish Government said that Public Health Scotland are aware of a "data flow issue" affecting NHS Scotland Pillar 1 lab test results since Monday afternoon which will affect figures reported on Tuesday and is being investigated.
There were 932 people in hospital on Monday with recently confirmed Covid-19, up one on the previous day, with 63 in intensive care, down five on the day before.
So far 4,320,370 people have received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccination and 3,910,253 have received their second dose.
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