Beloved ITV soaps Emmerdale and Coronation Street have been forced to temporarily stop filming due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Both soaps postponed filming during the first lockdown last year but managed to return to production in the months that followed, corresponding with government safety guidelines.
Unfortunately, it appears the pandemic has wreaked havoc yet again with their filming schedules, as both Emmerdale and Corrie have been forced to temporarily pause production.
The Mirror reports Emmerdale paused filming all week after an outbreak on-set, leading to “intensive cleaning” to prevent the spread of Covid.
Coronation Street is due to halt filming for two weeks from next Monday, though there have reportedly been no positive Covid cases on the Manchester set.
Emmerdale and Coronation Street have reportedly been forced to stop filming (Image: ITV)
The writers for the soap will be using the two-week lull in production to re-write storylines, ensuring they can be successfully and safely produced on-set.
A spokeswoman for the soap said: “Coronation Street will pause filming from next Monday, 25 January for two weeks to undertake some rewriting of stories and scripts as a consequence of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We will also be taking the opportunity to review all health and safety requirements to ensure we continue to provide a safe working environment for the cast, crew and production team.”
Thankfully, the break in production will not affect the number of episodes airing, with Corrie confirming they will continue to broadcast six episodes per week.
The set of Emmerdale is reportedly undergoing “intensive cleaning” (Image: ITV)
They added: “This pause in filming won’t affect our ability to deliver six episodes of Coronation Street each week.”
A spokeswoman for Emmerdale told Daily Star: “We paused filming on Emmerdale last week due to some members of the team testing positive for Covid 19.
“We’ve carried out proper track and trace measures on those cases and undertook intensive cleaning of the production building, whilst reinforcing the health and safety protocols we have in place.”
Emmerdale has assured fans filming will resume next Monday, and episodes will continue to air in the usual fashion.
The spokeswoman added: “We’re returning to filming from this Monday, 25 January. This pause in filming will have no impact on our ability to continue to broadcast six episodes of Emmerdale each week.”
Last year, both productions were forced to cut back on the number of episodes airing each week, in an effort to keep the soaps running throughout the lockdown.
Emmerdale was the first to return to production, commencing phased filming in late May with a series of lockdown-inspired specials.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
