A new COVID ward has been set up by NHS Tayside amid a surge in cases - with some young people now in intensive care.
It was confirmed the additional 30-bed ward has opened at Ninewells, the fourth of its kind at the facility, in addition to the intensive care and high dependency unit.
On Thursday, there were 61 patients with coronavirus in the hospital, with 11 requiring critical care.
Ninewells had no COVID patients in April but is now housing its highest number of patients in five months.
The latest move has also sparked an plea from NHS Tayside for 18 to 29-year-olds to get vaccinated as local cases continue to rise.
The region has the highest infection rate in Scotland and was recently described as the COVID capital of Europe due to the spike.
Speaking on the need for a further ward at Ninewells, NHS Tayside operational medical director Dr Pamela Johnston said: “This is the highest number of patients we have seen for some weeks and we expect that this number may rise further over the coming days.
“As we did in the previous two spikes of COVID-19 when we created a hospital within a hospital, our clinical teams have been changing the footprint of Ninewells to ensure we can continue to provide safe and effective care for the people of Tayside.
“An additional 30-bed ward for COVID-19 patients is opening as part of our plans.
“This means we will have four dedicated COVID-19 wards open in Ninewells, as well as the COVID intensive care and high dependency unit for those who have more serious coronavirus symptoms.
“Similar to the last peak of the virus earlier this year, our approach is to monitor on a daily and weekly basis the impact of COVID-19 in our hospitals.
“We look at COVID admissions, emergency admissions for other conditions and our staffing situation.
“Being flexible in this way allows our clinical teams to keep as many services running as possible.
“I would ask everyone in Tayside to support our clinical teams in hospitals and out in the community by doing everything they can to make it harder for this virus to spread.
“Please get vaccinated, get tested and continue to follow the guidance.”
Tayside’s director of public health Dr Emma Fletcher said the situation was “exceptionally serious” and urged people aged between 18 and 29 to get themselves vaccinated.
She said: “This is the highest number of patients we have had since February 12 and our rate per 100,000 population is more than 10 times what it was just a few weeks ago.
“Unfortunately there are young people right now with COVID in Ninewells - not only in our general wards, but also in our intensive care unit and our high dependency unit.
“So today we have a simple plea: please go and get your vaccination.”
Despite the recent surge in cases across Scotland appearing to have stabilised slightly this week, Dr Fletcher said the number of people testing positive in Tayside remains in the hundreds every day.
She added: “One of the biggest reasons that I am concerned is that having high numbers of cases in the community has a big knock on effect on our hospitals as it inevitably results in more people requiring hospital care.”
