Britain’s health officials on Friday reported a ‘gradual decline’ in the number of cases in the hotspot of London, after national figures showed the number of dead rising to 14,576 and the number of cases to 108,692.
Business secretary Alok Sharma announced a new taskforce on vaccines and multi-million pound funding to several projects to accelerate the development and production of a vaccine for coronavirus. Some pre-clinical trials have begun in the University of Oxford.
Chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance reported a gradual decrease in the number of people in hospital beds in London, and a flattening and decrease in some areas: “That is exactly what you’d expect from the social distancing measures that we’ve all taken beginning to feed through”.
On the taskforce, Sharma said at the Downing Street briefing: “UK scientists are working as fast as they can to find a vaccine that fights coronavirus, saving and protecting people’s lives. We stand firmly behind them in their efforts”.
“The Vaccine Taskforce is key to coordinating efforts to rapidly accelerate the development and manufacture of a potential new vaccine, so we can make sure it is widely available to patients as soon as possible”.
{{/usCountry}}“The Vaccine Taskforce is key to coordinating efforts to rapidly accelerate the development and manufacture of a potential new vaccine, so we can make sure it is widely available to patients as soon as possible”.
{{/usCountry}}One new project led by the University of Oxford will trial an anti-malarial drug believed to have anti-inflammatory properties to determine whether it could diminish the effects of Covid-19 on people in high risk groups.
Other projects include Imperial College London testing a vaccine against coronavirus that aims for the body to produce more protective antibodies; and Public Health England developing a new antibody that could offer protection against infection and disease progression of coronavirus.
Health secretary Matt Hancock added: “We’re doing everything possible to save lives and beat this disease, and that includes working flat out with businesses, researchers and industry to find a vaccine as quickly as possible”.
“The UK is world-leading in developing vaccines. We are the biggest contributor to the global effort - and preparing to ensure we can manufacture vaccines here at home as soon as practically possible”.
Reports continued from parts of the UK of shortage of personal protection equipment for medical staff. Britain is also planning to restart tracing the contacts of people who have had coronavirus symptoms, Hancock told a parliamentary committee on Friday.