Some regional news slots during BBC Breakfast are to be cancelled from Monday because so many staff are self-isolating..
The so-called Pingdemic has seen more than 1million people told to stay home for 10 days because they have been in contact with someone who has Covid.
It has disrupted everything from supermarket supplies and train services to bin collections.
Now The Guardian reports the BBC will pause English regional TV slots in BBC breakfast until September.
The move has been made so staff can focus on the evening regional news broadcasts - although some of these could be produced by neighbouring regions and The Guardian says other regional broadcasting could disappear over the summer.
A BBC spokesman said: “Like employers in every area of the economy, we’re experiencing unprecedented staffing shortages caused by Covid. Apart from a few exceptions, we have maintained a normal service so far. Our priority is to protect the most popular news programme on TV; the regional news at 6:30pm on BBC One. To do this, we are implementing some short-term measures to ease pressure on our teams.”
The Government has produced a limited list of industries where key workers could be exempt from having to self-isolate in a bid to keep the country moving.
That includes people working in the food supply chain - as well as those who work in areas including energy, waste, water, transport, medicine, emergency services, border control, defence and local government.
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