Humza Yousaf has been criticised by the UK statistics watchdog after it found he "inaccurately" presented child covid figures.
The new SNP Health Secretary claimed during a BBC radio interview that 10 children, between 0 and nine, were hospitalised "because of covid" in Scotland between May 24 and 30.
Yousaf used the data to warn parents not to travel to another council area to allow their child to attend a soft play area.
Under current rules the areas are not permitted to open in Level 2.
Following the statement the Scottish Conservatives wrote to the statistics watchdog alleging the use of the data could cause “needless alarm and were a misuse of statistics”.
In response to the Tories, Ed Humpherson, the director general for regulation at the Office for Statistics Regulation, hit out at Yousaf over his "inaccurate" use of the figures.
In a letter to the Scottish Government's Chief Statistician and Data Officer Roger Halliday, Humpherson wrote: "By way of background, the figure used was not available publicly at the time the statement was made, and it was inaccurately presented.
"We were pleased to see that the figure used by the Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care was published as part of an ad-hoc release which included an explanatory note to support any future interpretation.
"It is also encouraging to hear that Public Health Scotland is now working to publish data on the age ranges of those hospitalised on a more routine basis to meet public interest in these data.
"We would encourage as part of this work, if possible, to include if the admissions were because of COVID-19 or if the primary reason for admission to hospital was for something else.
"We highlighted this as a data gap in a statement we published in December 2020.
"Whilst we understand that on this occasion, it was a genuine mistake, which was quickly corrected, I would like to re-iterate the importance of ensuring ministers are appropriately briefed and any figures referred to publicly must be made available."
Following the release of the letter Scottish Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Health, Annie Wells called on Yousaf to apologise for the error.
She said: “This is a humiliating slap-down for Humza Yousaf.
"Top statisticians have confirmed his child Covid claims, which left thousands of parents worried for their kids’ safety, were inaccurate.
"It’s a disgrace that the SNP Government wouldn’t just come clean and admit Humza Yousaf got this wrong. Instead, they danced around questions about his dangerous scaremongering.
"The health secretary alarmed parents but once again, just like when he made false accusations of sectarian singing, he didn’t hold his hands up and admit the mistake.
"For once, Humza Yousaf should drop the arrogance, show some humility and finally apologise for getting this so badly wrong."
The Daily Record has contacted the Scottish Government for a comment.
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