Production on ITV soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale has once again been briefly halted as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Both shows went off the air last year after bosses made the decision to suspend filming during the early stages of the crisis, in a bid to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
It’s now been revealed that production on Emmerdale was put on pause last week, after “some members of the team” tested positive for coronavirus.
“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,” ITV said in a statement, confirming that production on Emmerdale would resume on Monday 25 January.
Meanwhile, production on Corrie will be halted for two weeks from Monday, to allow certain storylines to be rewritten as a result of the pandemic.
ITV explained: “Coronation Street will pause filming from next Monday, January 25, 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.”
The broadcaster also insisted that neither break in production would prevent them from delivering six episodes of both shows per week.
It was recently revealed that Corrie bosses had considered working a pandemic storyline into the show long before Covid-19, but this idea was eventually dismissed as being “too far-fetched”.