ITV are going to use the soaps Coronation Street and Emmerdale to “remind people of important public health issues” amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a spokeswoman for the broadcaster.
The importance of hand washing is among the topics that will be covered by the programmes.
The soaps do not typically make reference to current affairs because they are filmed well in advance of being broadcast, according to ITV.
“However we are going to use the soaps to remind people of important public health issues such as the need to wash their hands.
“We’ll try and do more such messages going forward.”
However, they later returned to work after being advised by health professionals that they no longer needed to be in isolation and could safely continue filming.
There was no disruption to filming of the soap.
