STAY at home if you feel unwell is the plea made by Scotland's First Minister as efforts continue to ease current pressures on health services.

Nicola Sturgeon said the problems facing the NHS were "exceptional and severe" and asked that members of the public continued efforts to reduce infection.

"Anyone with symptoms should try and stay at home if possible and if you do need to leave home, wear a face-covering which fits well," she said.

"Those over the age of 12 should wear face-coverings when on public transport and in enclosed spaces.

"Vaccinations continue to be absolutely vital so, if eligible for COVID or flu vaccines and you haven't had it already, please do get vaccinated.

"It is also worth remembering the many basic protections are still relevant now like good hand hygiene. There is no easy solution given the nature and scale of the challenges."

Last week, Scotland's national clinical director, Jason Leitch, said wearing a face mask in public was "no bad thing" and said people should not "lose hope" about the state of the health service, which has come under severe pressure.

Speaking to the BBC's Good Morning Scotland Radio programme, Professor Leitch said A&E was not the only part of the health service feeling the squeeze.

He said: "If we lose hope, then we're in trouble. So there are things we can do in the system to make it better."

COVID, flu and Strep A are all contributing to the pressure but the fundamental problem is around bed-blocking, he said.

Between one in eight and one in 10 of all hospital beds is occupied by someone with COVID or flu, Prof Leitch said.

He asked people to use the health service "wisely", noting that 500,000 had used NHS Inform to look up details of Strep A.

Prof Leitch also asked people to be patient with services like NHS 24 due to high demand.

Those who are sick should stay at home, he said, adding: "It means not going to your office, not going to drive that bus.

"If you have a virus, if you're not well, you should stay at home."

Prof Leitch also said it would not be a "bad idea" for people to wear face masks in public places.

"That will be no bad thing for Scotland in the UK to inherit from the COVID pandemic," he said.