Coronation Street and Emmerdale staff have been placed on furlough by ITV Studios following the shutdown in production due to the coronavirus pandemic.
500 people who work across the soaps have been put on leave, but their ITV salaries have been secured.
The government furlough means they will still get 80% of their wages, while ITV will top up the rest.
Related: Former Emmerdale star John Bowe says he "nearly died" with coronavirus symptoms
A skeleton crew is in place to make sure things can start back up straight away once the lockdown has been lifted. All staff are expected to return.
An ITV Studios spokeswoman said: "Because the soaps have shut down, members of the crew have been notified that their roles are being furloughed in line with the government’s scheme for those who can’t work during the coronavirus crisis."
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A statement from Broadcast added: "ITV Studios took the decision to stand down the crew working on Coronation Street and Emmerdale on 23 March.
"No further filming has taken place since that date and because the soaps have shut down members of the crew have been notified that their roles are being furloughed in line with the Government's scheme for those who can't work during the coronavirus crisis.
"This affects approximately 250 crew members on each of the soaps and additional office based staff including script editors, researchers, storyliners and casting. Furloughed staff are receiving their full ITV salary."
It's also been confirmed that "a number of staff" who work on Hollyoaks for Lime Pictures have been placed into furlough.
All the soaps, including BBC production EastEnders, have had to reduce the amount of episodes airing after production was stopped recently.
The information in this story is accurate as of the publication date. While we are attempting to keep our content as up-to-date as possible, the situation surrounding the coronavirus pandemic continues to develop rapidly, so it's possible that some information and recommendations may have changed since publishing. For any concerns and latest advice, visit the World Health Organisation. If you're in the UK, the National Health Service can also provide useful information and support, while US users can contact the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
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