NICOLA Sturgeon is being cautioned to keep face mask rules in place for a further period and warned easing the measure could be reckless as she prepares to give her latest Covid update to Holyrood.

Currently, people in Scotland are legally required to wear face coverings in shops, on public transport, in the cinema and in hospitality venues when moving around.

The First Minister was due to ease the mandate on their use in her statement to MSPs two weeks ago and move the measure into guidance, making it a matter of individual choice.

But she unexpectedly delayed doing so because of the high rate in infections and said she would wait until just before the end of the month to make the change.

Since then Covid infections and hospitalisations cases have continued to soar to record levels, with public health experts warning against easing the rules when she makes her new announcement on Wednesday.

READ MORE: Covid Scotland: Modelling warns of nearly 7000 in hospital with virus within weeks

They say she should wait until Holyrood returns from its Easter recess and then make a decision based on the state of the pandemic then.

Professor Neil Mabbott, of Edinburgh University, told The Herald on Sunday he believed the existing rules should continue for the moment.

"Personally I think it does make sense to keep the mask mandate for a little while longer," he said.

"We should be looking at it on a regular basis. Every three weeks or so. Look at what is happening and then react to the situation."

He added: "We know face masks can be very effective in reducing transmissions in certain situations.

"I'm not going to say that masks offer 100 per cent protection but they make a difference in those high risk or high impacts areas, where there is lots of crowding of people indoors, limited ventilation and where people might be for a reasonably long period of time.

"These are all situations which allow the virus to transmit from one person to another through the air, so if you are wearing a mask, even if it's just a cloth mask, you are giving yourself some protection as well as protecting others.

"Given all the other restrictions we've had experience over the past two years, I think you could argue that masks are the least invasive."

Mr Mabbott continued that lifting the legal mandate on the wearing of face mask and making it a matter of individual choice could send out a confused message to the public.

"It's about having very clear messaging and when it starts to become guidance people aren't clear whether they need to do something or not," he said, adding that cases could increase further if the requirement is eased.

His view was backed by public health expert Professor Andrew Watterson of Stirling University.

He also addressed demands by the Scottish Conservatives to lift the requirement for secondary school pupils and staff to wear face masks in corridors after the rule was lifted for the wearing of masks in classrooms last month.

“The evidence base for face coverings and masks is strong and it is one valuable protection against Covid. 

“Covid case numbers are still high right across the country and so this is not the time to abandon or further water down that protection in schools and colleges for pupils and staff. 

“Removing the protection now would be unwise if not reckless because it will almost certainly lead to many more Covid cases in coming days.” 

During the First Minister’s last Covid update to Holyrood there were around 12,000 new cases of the virus a day. At that time, a total of 1996 people were in hospital with the infection, an increase1,060 three weeks earlier.

The latest figures showed that the number of patients in Scotland’s hospitals with coronavirus had climbed to 2,326.

Ms Sturgeon said in her last update the increase in cases in that period was driven by the BA.2 sub-lineage of the omicron variant, believed to be significantly more transmissible than that of the original omicron.

"Given the current spike in case numbers, we consider it prudent to retain that requirement in regulation for a further short period," she said.

"I know that that will be disappointing for businesses and service providers such as day-care services, but ensuring the maximum continued use of face coverings will provide some additional protection—particularly for the most vulnerable—at a time when the risk of infection is very high, and it may help us to get over this spike more quickly. We will review the regulation again in two weeks, before the Easter recess, and our expectation now is that that regulation will convert to guidance in early April."