CORONAVIRUS is spreading “significantly” faster through England than the Government’s predicted “worst-case” scenario, according to new documents published by the UK Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage).

The group says that by mid-October, there were between 43,000 and 74,000 people being infected with coronavirus every day.

This, the Sage paper says is “significantly above the profile of the reasonable worst-case scenario, where the number of daily infections in England remained between 12,000-13,000 throughout October.”

In Scotland there were another 1281 positive cases reported yesterday, representing 6% of the total number of tests, the lowest positivity rate in three weeks.

There were also 28 deaths registered of a patient who first tested positive over the previous 28 days, down from 37 the previous day.

That takes the total number of deaths, under this measurement, to 2819.

Meanwhile, Richard Leonard has called for the ban on home visiting to be lifted on Christmas Day, saying a “rigid approach” would lead to Scots flouting the rules.

In an interview with the I newspaper, the Scottish Labour leader said the government needed to be “a bit more responsive to the human condition.”

Leonard said: “We think there needs to be an attempt to try to find sensible, special guidelines for Christmas.

“If we can have special guidelines for Halloween, surely we can have special guidelines for Christmas which are a bit more responsive to the human condition.

“If we are still at the point of having restrictions that prevent household-to-household contact indoors, then maybe there could be a relaxation of that for example.”

Last weekend, Bishop of Paisley, John Keenan, writing in the Sunday Times, urged authorities to consider a one-day “circuit-breaker” to allow loved ones to mix on Christmas Day. He compared it to the temporary ceasefire enacted on the Western Front during the First World War.

However, deputy chief medical officer Dr Nicola Steedman warned that the virus wouldn’t be any less contagious just because it’s a holiday.

“The difficulty with this particular amnesty is that our opponent, if you like, hasn’t agreed to the amnesty.”