Lorraine and Loose Women to stop live broadcasting as Coronation Street and Emmerdale suspend filming

Lorraine and Loose Women will stop broadcasting live from Monday amid the coronavirus outbreak, ITV has announced.

It follows an earlier announcement that Coronation Street and Emmerdale will suspend production due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic.

Announcing the news about Loose Women and Lorraine, a statement said: "ITV Daytime has taken the decision to stop broadcasting Lorraine and Loose Women live from Monday 23rd March".

ITV said the decision had been made to "minimise the number of staff travelling in and out of our studios" and "working together on shift at any one time."

"We're focusing our efforts on providing to viewers the latest news on the rapidly changing situation which aims to offer some stability and continuity in all our lives whilst so many of us are at home right now," the broadcaster said.

"That's why we have taken this tough decision to protect our GMB News programme in the morning and keep This Morning on air for as long as possible".

ITV said that from Monday an extended version of Good Morning Britain will air from 6am until 10am and feature Charlotte Hawkins as co-host until 9am, with Lorraine Kelly joining Piers Morgan for the remainder of the programme.

This Morning will run from 10am until 12.30pm as usual and ITV will then run repeat episodes of Loose Women from 12.30pm to 1.30pm "to give viewers something to smile about each day at lunchtime."

In a tweet, Good Morning Britain host Morgan said his co-presenter, Susanna Reid, who is self-isolating at home after one of her sons developed symptoms of the virus, will join the show via video link.

Production on Coronation Street and Emmerdale has been suspended. Credit: ITV Pictures

ITV said its staff had been working hard to ensure filming continued on Coronation Street and Emmerdale, but will now be suspended from Monday 23 March.

The broadcaster said in a statement the "health and well-being" of the cast and crew is of "paramount importance."

ITV said enough episodes have been recorded to see both soaps through until the early summer.

It follows a similar decision made by EastEnders and other BBC dramas to temporarily halt filming.

Only two episodes of EastEnders - which is filmed months in advance - will be aired a week.

The soaps will be broadcast until the early summer. Credit: ITV Pictures

A statement from ITV said: "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.“

Emmerdale will be broadcast Monday to Friday at 7pm. Credit: ITV Pictures

The broadcast of the two ITV soaps will change from March 30, Emmerdale will air Monday to Friday at 7pm and Coronation Street Monday, Wednesday and Friday at 7.30pm.

"With this change of transmission pattern it will ensure we have great new soap episodes coming to air every weekday night until at least the early summer," ITV said.

Earlier this week, the BBC suspended filming of EastEnders and other top BBC dramas including Casualty, Doctors, Holby City and River City.

EastEnders fans will still be able to get their fix of Walford from episodes already filmed, and TV bosses say just two episodes will air each week to make them last as long as possible.