ITV will pause broadcast for NHS birthday applause

ITV is marking the NHS\' 72nd birthday celebrations by pausing its broadcast for the "biggest and loudest" Clap for Carers tribute.

The broadcaster - and Scottish channel STV - will stop its transmission at 5pm on July 5 to recognise the efforts of key workers across the UK, along with everyone staying at home to help in the battle against the coronavirus pandemic.

Programming will be temporarily suspended to encourage the public to head outside for a moment of national thanks, which is one of several anniversary activities planned by The Together Coalition.

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The event is also supported by NHS Charities Together - the organisation behind the One Million Claps campaign - and ITV will be part of the special occasion.

Clare Phillips, Director of Social Purpose for ITV, said: "These have been a tough few months for people all over the UK.

"From key workers in the NHS and in other fields to everyone staying at home to help beat the virus, so many have done so much for the greater good.

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"So the NHS\'s birthday feels like the perfect moment for ITV to join in in encouraging us all to say thank you to each other and have a (socially distanced) cup of tea with a neighbour."

Dr. Alex George is one of many NHS staff working on the frontline during the health crisis.

The 29-year-old medic - who found fame on \'Love Island\' in 2018 - previously admitted he was finding it tough self-isolating in his London flat without his girlfriend Amelia Bath.

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He said: "It\'s a strange parallel -- craving rest yet dreading time off -- fuelled by the fact I\'m now living, like so many medics, in isolation in the flat I\'d normally be sharing with my girlfriend, Amelia.

"And it\'s all such a far cry from my \'Love Island\' experience, which is, of course, what made me famous. I went on the show in 2018, three years after leaving medical school.

"That summer seems so carefree and frivolous now, as though it happened to someone else. In fact, I realise now, more than ever before, that fame is not the thing that defines me.

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"The work I\'m doing through this crisis, facing life and death on a daily basis, that shapes who I really am: a doctor to my very core."