The BBC has denied suggestions that EastEnders could resume filming next month after shutting down in March due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced yesterday that the UK is "past the peak" of COVID-19, although social distancing measures are likely to remain in place for many months to come in an effort to prevent a second spike.

EastEnders has reduced its transmission to just two episodes a week during the lockdown, although the soap is due to fall off the air at some point in the next month or two when new episodes run out.

ITV is actively looking at safe ways to resume production of Coronation Street and Emmerdale and it has been suggested that EastEnders is doing likewise with a target return date of June.

A BBC spokesperson insisted that such talk is premature, however, saying: "No dates have been set for filming to resume and we will not return until it is safe to do so. We will continue to follow the latest news and advice from the World Health Organisation and Public Health England."

The coronavirus outbreak has now claimed almost a quarter of a million lives worldwide, including over 27,000 in the UK.