DEPUTY First Minister John Swinney has confirmed requiring people to wear medical grade face masks to halt the spread of mutated strains of coronavirus is "being actively explored” by the Scottish Government.

Last week, Germany became the first major European country to require the medical grade protection for people in shops and on public transport.

Mr Swinney said officials in Scotland were mulling over introducing the tougher action as mutated strains of Covid-19 piles pressure on hospitals and NHS services.

The Deputy First Minister was asked about the idea on Sunday Politics Scotland.

He said: “These are issues that are being looked at – some public authorities have already started to apply such measures within Scotland.

“We’ve got to make sure that we take the most effective measures to suppress the virus, to be advised about the clinical value of particular steps to take.

“The question that you raise about the higher-grade face covering is one that’s being actively explored within government today.”

He added: We have a range of different measures in place that have been successful in reducing transmission of the virus.

"We’ve managed to see a reduction of about a third of cases in a fortnight and that’s very encouraging given the very and alarming acceleration in the rise in case, which took place just after Christmas.

“We will continue to look at that else might be possible to continue that progress and to make sure we are effective in all the actions that we take.”

Mr Swinney stressed that “progress is clearly being made in reducing the spread of the virus”, adding that “the lockdown measures and the willing compliance of members of the public is helping to improve the situation”.

But he warned that “our hospitals are under enormous pressure with significant numbers of patients”.

He added: “I think it would be foolish of me to say that there may not be a necessity at some stage in the future for us to take further measures. We don’t want to do that. If we all follow the rules that we’ve got in place just now, we should be able to avoid that.

“It's important, as the Scottish Government has always said during this pandemic, that we take the right measures at the right time to protect the public based on the advice re receive on public health.”