The survival chances of nearly 10,000 people could be put at risk by the reduction in surgery, she said, and has urged the Scottish Government to take action.

According to a government report, the majority of surgery services at the country’s 14 health boards will “ operate [at] around 60% of pre-Covid levels for the next 24 months, and perhaps longer” depending on further waves of coronavirus.

The stark warning comes as Scotland saw a rise in the number of people testing positive for the virus, with 83 new positive tests recorded in the 24 hours to Sunday.

Official figures state the number of positive cases was 0.9% of all newly-tested people, with a total of 19,811 people testing positive for the virus in total.

Two people were in intensive care as of Saturday night, with 245 people in hospital on the same day. No new deaths were registered since Saturday, and there had been no new confirmed cases of Covid-19 in care homes.

The figures show the largest number of newly recorded cases was in Tayside, with 37 people testing positive there as of Saturday.

Ms Lennon, central Scotland MSP, said more than 400,000 cancer screening opportunities have been missed due to the lockdown, and challenged health Secretary Jeane Freeman to act quickly to prevent lives being lost.

She said: “Scotland is facing a tsunami of cancer deaths if SNP Ministers go ahead with their planned cuts to operations.

“It’s unclear if Jeane Freeman is putting her record before voters at next year’s election but she must live up to her responsibilities now and give cancer patients the care they deserve.

“SNP Ministers were responsible for a crisis in cancer services long before coronavirus hit and cancer remains the most common cause of death in Scotland, with more people dying from cancer during the pandemic than from COVID-19.”

“Nearly 6,000 Scots have died from cancer during the pandemic and almost 400,000 cancer screenings have been cancelled. The plan to cut operations is wrong-headed.

“The Scottish Government did not prepare properly for the threat of a pandemic and NHS patients are suffering as a result.

“Ministers must take their responsibilities seriously and ensure that all cancer patients receive swift diagnoses and treatment.”.

The Scottish Government said it was “extremely misleading” to suggest that people could be affected by the reduction in surgery capacity, insisting that many health boards are working at almost the same capacity as before the crisis.

Last week Jeane Freeman announced a new plan for re-designing cancer care in the age of coronavirus to include more use of technology as well as “quicker decision making in new treatment options”.

Announcing the plan, Ms Freeman said the NHS has “remained open” and continued “to provide emergency and urgent cancer treatment, as well as maintaining COVID-19 capacity and resilience.”

A spokesman said that cancer patients were being prioritised for surgery and an update would be published in the Autumn about the government’s new plan.

He said the estimates on a 60% capacity were UK-wide and had not manifested to the same extent in Scotland.

A spokesman said: “It is extremely misleading to use those figures because cancer surgery in Scotland is currently operating at close to pre-Covid levels. At the end of March, a UK-wide report did estimated that all surgeries would run at only 60% capacity but that has proven to not be the case.

“Our cancer surgery framework makes clear that cancer patients should be prioritised across Scotland. We have also just announced that a new national plan for cancer services will be published in the Autumn to ensure patients continue to have access to the best possible treatments.”