A TORY MP has been rebuked by a public health expert after criticising Nicola Sturgeon’s decision to keep mandatory mask rules in place for longer in Scotland.

Andrew Bowie was criticised for wading into a debate on Covid-19 rules despite lacking “any understanding of public health”, in the view of a leading epidemiologist.

Dr Deepti Gurdasani also hit out at the “sheer stupidity” of UK Government ministers for scrapping self-isolation and mask mandates earlier this year.

The First Minister on Tuesday pushed back the date for ditching laws for people to wear face coverings on public transport and in some settings, having previously signalled this would move from being a legal requirement to being guidance, on March 21.

She told MSPs that with the “current spike” in cases, ministers had agreed it was “prudent” for this measure to remain in place and the legal requirement will be reviewed again in two weeks’ time.

Daily Covid-19 case numbers in Scotland hit the highest peak since January this week, with more patients in hospital than at any time since January 2021.

Conservatives, however, railed against the Scottish Government’s announcement. Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross said there was always a chance Covid cases would rise after restrictions were eased, as they were earlier this month, and that should not be a reason to keep the requirement for face coverings.

Bowie tweeted: “Masks to remain in Scotland where Covid cases are higher than in England where masks haven't been mandatory for over a month.

“No ... I don't get it either.”

Those comments attracted the attention of Dr Gurdasani, a senior lecturer in clinical epidemiology at Queen Mary University of London. She accused the West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine MP of spouting “uninformed and unhelpful rhetoric”.

She replied: “Really? You don't get why masks are needed when 1 in 18 people are infected (the highest *ever* prevalence in Scotland), hospitalisations are rising rapidly to almost the Jan 2021 levels? Let me explain it to you. It's a vital public health measure.

“I just don't understand how politicians who don't seem to have any understanding of public health 2 years into the pandemic feel free to wade in and put out completely uninformed and unhelpful rhetoric. We should be doing more not less...

“And yes, waves will happen at different points in different nations. England had a worse initial omicron wave than Scotland because they had more measures in place, but Scotland saw an earlier resurgence as they opened up & now both are seeing rapid rises.”

The expert went on to criticise the UK Government’s Covid strategy in England after it moved earlier to drop Covid safety rules, including mask rules and widespread testing.

She added: “England is not a good standard for comparison for anything. Yes, England doesn't have mask mandates because of the sheer stupidity of politicians, not because they're not needed!”

READ MORE: Douglas Ross poses with troll who branded Nicola Sturgeon a 'drooling hag'

Another public health expert, Dr Christine Tait-Burkard of the University of Edinburgh, also backed the Scottish Government’s decision on masks as she warned Covid cases could peak in the next fortnight.

She said keeping the requirement for face coverings is in line with dealing with the surge and is a “relatively easily-achieved measure”.

The BA.2 sub-variant of Omicron now makes up more than 80% of coronavirus cases in Scotland and appears to have become dominant faster than in England.

Contact tracing will also cease from the end of next month, but people with symptoms of respiratory illnesses will be asked to stay at home.

The First Minister said that, from May 1, the Scottish Government will move to a more targeted testing system. The shift, she said, was brought about due to funding constraints caused by the UK Government’s changes to its testing regime.

The National: Nicola Sturgeon in Holyrood

Asked whether it was prudent to keep the requirement for face coverings, Tait-Burkard told BBC Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “It is indeed kind of line with what we are seeing with the new sub-variant of Omicron which is a very big spike in cases, in fact we have the most cases in the population at this point than ever before in the pandemic.

“It’s also realistic to look at this from about a two-week perspective because what we are seeing in the numbers is that we could probably peak this week or the week thereafter in terms of cases, and we would actually see an easing and a clear indication before lifting face masks, and that’s kind of our last barrier to go, and also our last reminder to go.

“And at the same time it is a relatively easily-achieved measure that has less impact on the economy. Whilst it might deter some people from going out, it might incentivise others for going out. I think there’s a difficult balance to take there.”

There were 1996 people in hospital on Monday with recently confirmed Covid-19, up 191 on the previous day, with 33 in intensive care, up six.

That is higher than the Omicron peak of 1571 which was recorded in January this year, with more patients in hospital than at any time since January 27 last year when the total was 2016.

Tait-Burkard, a research fellow at the University of Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute and an expert on coronaviruses, said that while masks help reduce virus levels in public places they are less effective against Omicron.

She suggested that vulnerable people should be advised to upgrade their masks to FFP2 or N95 masks for more protection.

The academic said: “The impacts that the mask wearing makes without many of the other restrictions in place is small, or it’s smaller than it ever was before.

“One [reason] is that unfortunately with Omicron the kind of less protective masks, the simple surgical masks, the thin ones that you just ring round your ears, the fabric ones, they’re not as protective as they were against the previous variants, just because we need to inhale less of the virus to get infected, so both time of exposure needed to get infected is less, but they still help reducing virus level in public places, and especially for vulnerable people that can make the difference.

“But there should be also the advice that for vulnerable people it might be a good moment, or probably a very pertinent moment, to upgrade masks to so-called FFP2 or N95 masks, the thicker ones that fit very closely around your face to protect yourself more than others.”

John Swinney, the Scottish Government’s Covid Recovery Secretary, said the recent rise in cases meant ministers felt “we need just a little bit more protection”.

He also pointed out the World Health Organisation is “very clear” that face coverings “contribute significantly to assisting in interrupting the circulation of the virus” and that wearing masks can “provide a level of routine protection which can assist in trying to reduce the number of cases that we have”.

The UK Government has repeatedly insisted its approach in England is proportionate as the country moves from a system of government restrictions to “personal responsibility”.