Nicola Sturgeon is likely to extend the legal requirement for people to wear facemasks for at least another fortnight when she updates parliament today.
The first minister eased most remaining virus restrictions two weeks ago, but kept mask rules in place due to high case numbers.
Her cabinet met yesterday to discuss measures, with one in eleven people in Scotland estimated to have the virus.
She will update the Scottish Parliament in the outcome of the the cabinet meeting at 2pm this afternoon.
Masks are not required in England or Wales, where Covid rates are lower than in Scotland. Ministers believe the spread of the Omicron BA.2 variant is more advanced north of the border and this has fuelled the spike.
Leadership has been 'lonely'
Meanwhile, Ms Sturgeon has given a candid interview about leading the country through the pandemic to the Cultural Coven podcast.
In a hour-long interview recorded in Bute House, her official residence in Edinburgh, Sturgeon admitted there had been times during the Covid pandemic where she had felt overwhelmed and that leadership is “lonely”.
She said: “As the months wore on and the impact on people became much more difficult and the mental wellbeing impact, the economic impact, the number of people losing their lives, there were days, yeah, where I thought ‘I can’t do this’.
“But I didn’t have a choice and in jobs like mine you don’t put yourself up for election only to do the good bits of the job or the easy bits of the job.”