FACE mask rules may continue in Scotland for longer than planned, the health secretary has signalled.

Humza Yousaf was asked by the BBC today if Scottish Government plans remained as a result of record high cases of the virus which ministers say is a result of the highly transmissable BA.2 variant of the Omicron strain.

The First Minister was due to ease the mandate on their use in her statement to MSPs two weeks ago and put 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.

She told Holyrood on March 15: "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."

READ MORE: Covid in Scotland: 'Easing face mask rules now may be reckless'

However, 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 statement on Wednesday.

It may mean that rules making mask-wearing in indoor public spaces like trains, buses and shops may remain for the moment with the situation being reviewed when Holyrood returns from recess in mid April.

Mr Yousaf was today asked on BBC's Sunday Show if Ms Sturgeon would go ahead as planned with relaxing the face mask rules.

He said no new Covid restrictions would be introduced when she updates Holyrood on Wednesday on the pandemic.

"Government at this stage is not considering further restrictions. We have an important decision to take on Tuesday around whether or not we remove the last legal restriction or protective measure and move it into guidance, that is of course the wearing of face coverings. So that is a discussion clearly the Cabinet will have on Tuesday," he said.

"But the updated strategic framework...is relying less and less on legal restrictions and more and more on anti viral treatments, vaccines and people's good judgement and behaviours."

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 increase from 1,060 three weeks earlier.

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

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.

Mr Yousaf was also asked on the programme about 240 "avoidable deaths" since the start of the year cited by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine due to people not being seen quickly enough.

The Health Secretary said: "I would take some exception to the phrase avoidable deaths. What I would say is we have...record levels in hospitals with Covid infection."

Mr Yousaf added that record levels of Covid in hospitals put extra pressures on the service which had a knock on effect on accident and emergency departments.

Commenting Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: “With cases of Covid remaining high and our NHS now in permanent crisis, it is clear that the government is failing to keep the people of Scotland safe.

"The voice of clinicians and frontline workers is clear – lives are being lost in our NHS and the SNP has entirely failed to support workers in performing their vital roles.

"These deaths are not inevitable – they can be avoided if the SNP government has the political will to do so. The Health Secretary had no answers as to why case numbers are so much higher in Scotland than the rest of the UK. Humza Yousaf says he is not interested in ‘crystal ball gazing’ – but that can’t be an excuse for failing to plan and prepare.It’s time for the SNP government to stop the deadly dither and delay and act.”