BBC Scotland has said that they will continue to broadcast Nicola Sturgeon's Covid briefings next week. 

It comes following criticism after they stated that they would reduce live TV broadcasts of the Scottish government's coronavirus briefing.

Last week the BBC said it would continue to stream the briefings online but would only show them live on TV based on their "news value".

In a statement on Thursday they said: "with the pandemic still a major cause for public concern, we will, over the coming weeks and as we have done this week, look to cover the ScotGov health briefings live on TV".

Previously, Covid-briefings from the First Minister had been broadcast on BBC One Scotland and the BBC Scotland channel, as well as being streamed on the BBC News website and played out on BBC Radio Scotland.

Last week Nicola Sturgeon called the briefings vital saying for older people - particularly those who were shielding - and people with hearing difficulties.

She said: "What has struck me over the period that these briefings have been televised is that they have been particularly important to certain sections of the population that maybe don't routinely go onto the internet.

"We are in unique circumstances right now and the ability for me and my colleagues to communicate directly with the public has never been more important.

"So, it's for the BBC (to decide). All I would ask is that they take that into account in the decisions that they make."

The briefings had average viewing figures of 280,000 on BBC One Scotland and 40,000 on BBC Scotland.

A BBC Scotland spokesperson said: “Whilst there continue to be major developments in the pandemic in Scotland, we will, over the coming weeks and as we have done this week, look to cover the Scottish Government health briefings live on TV. There are clearly strong editorial reasons for continuing to do so at the moment.

"The live TV coverage will be in addition to the significant amount of coverage we continue to offer our viewers and listeners in TV news bulletins, on radio, live online and on the BBC News Channel.

"As we said last week, such decisions will always be made on the basis of editorial judgement and listening to our audiences. We will always take full account of how the pandemic continues to evolve to inform that judgement.

"Our coverage of Coronavirus and public health issues in Scotland will continue to incorporate a range of voices and perspectives, and this will be further enhanced as part of our ongoing coverage of the Scottish Government briefings.

"We will incorporate other voices and other perspectives into the briefings, bringing news and views from around Scotland and beyond, involving politicians from across the political spectrum, as well as commentators, analysts and other experts. We remain committed to having this broad coverage of voices and perspectives across all our news outlets on television, radio and online.”

An SNP spokesman said: "We welcome this sensible decision."