ITV has suspended filming of Coronation Street and Emmerdale amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite efforts to remain onscreen until the summer, channel bosses took the decision to pull production.
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Soap stars have been told not to come in for work from tomorrow as drastic measures are taken to stop the spread of the deadly bug.
A spokesman told The Sun: “ITV has sadly taken the decision to suspend production of the soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale with effect from Monday 23 March.
"We’ve been doing our best to carry on filming, whilst adhering to the Government’s latest health guidelines, to ensure we’ve episodes of both soaps airing on ITV until at least the early summer.
"However, the health and well-being of the production teams, actors, crew and their families is of paramount importance to us and we now feel that the time has come to stop filming.
"We’d like to thank our viewers for their support and hope they continue to enjoy both soaps in the coming months.“
BBC viewers were also left devastated this week after being told dramas EastEnders, Casualty, Doctors, Holby City, Pobol y Cwm and River City will be suspended amid the coronavirus crisis.
They are postponing dramas "until further notice" and have cut EastEnders back to two episodes a week.
In the last few days, Loose Women has stopped guests coming into the studio and banned live audiences.
Last night Saturday Night Takeaway aired without a crowd for first time in its history – and will now pre-record the rest of the series.
It comes as Britain's death toll has now risen to 243 today – as the total number of cases jumps to 5,132.
The UK has seen the amount of people infected with the killer bug quadruple in just five days.
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