See the latest stories on the coronavirus outbreak.
Loose Women and Lorraine are to cease broadcasting amid the coronavirus pandemic.
ITV has confirmed that both shows will be off air as of Monday for the foreseeable future.
Instead, presenter Lorraine Kelly will join Piers Morgan each weekday morning for an extended edition of Good Morning Britain from 9am to 10am.
Loose Women – which had been airing without a studio audience amid the coronavirus outbreak – will now be replaced by repeat episodes of the lunchtime chat show.
However, ITV said it aims to keep Good Morning Britain and This Morning on air for as long as possible, and explained the cuts to its daytime programming were made to “minimise the number of staff travelling in and out of our studios and working together on shift at any one time”.
The broadcaster said in a statement: “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.
“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.
“We have been reducing our crew numbers over the last week and these changes will enable us to reduce them further and help us build further resilience with the aim of Daytime content continuing to air for as long as possible.
“Safeguarding the well-being of everyone involved with our programmes is our priority and in this dynamically developing situation we will obviously continue to review these new arrangements on a day by day basis and follow at all times the latest PHE and WHO guidelines.”
READ MORE:
It follows the news that ITV has suspended production on both of its soaps, Coronation Street and Emmerdale in a bid to safeguard cast and crew.
It was previously reported that as a result of the pandemic, both soaps would be cutting the number of episodes aired every week.
In the last few weeks, the coronavirus pandemic has had a devastating effect on the entertainment industry, with high-profile events like Glastonbury festival and the Eurovision Song Contest cancelled altogether.