The government has launched a new taskforce to help find a coronavirus vaccine and find potential new treatments, including using anti-malaria medication to reduce the impact of the deadly disease.
The initiative, which is already up and running, was announced today as it emerged there have been a further 847 deaths of people in hospital who had coronavirus, bringing the UK death total since the pandemic to 14,576.
Led by chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance and deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan van Tam, the taskforce will support trials which are already underway, draw together the best virologists in the country, try to reduce regulatory red tape and give cash backing to the most promising trials.