Coronavirus latest news: Government announces vaccine taskforce as it aims 'to beat invisible killer'

• Wuhan adds nearly 1,300 deaths to official toll

• UK faces eight to ten waves of virus before herd immunity

• People flout lockdown rules to clap for carers on Westminster Bridge

• ​Five things Britain must put in place before it can exit lockdown

• Join the Telegraph Community Facebook group​

• Subscribe to The Telegraph, free for one month

• Telegraph Coronavirus Appeal: Join us in helping those hit hardest

A Government taskforce has been launched to speed up the hunt for a coronavirus vaccination.

The taskforce, led by chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance and deputy chief medical officer Professor Jonathan van Tam, will support efforts to develop a vaccination rapidly and speed up medical trials.

It will also scale up manufacturing to ensure any vaccination can be mass produced quickly. Twenty-one new research projects combating coronavirus will receive Government funding from a £14 million investment. This follows the Government's £250 million pledge to develop a vaccine.

But this process will be a "colossal undertaking" that could take "many months" warned Alok Sharma, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, as the taskforce was announced.

Meanwhile, the number of people who have died in hospital after testing positive for the coronavirus rose by 847 to a total of 14,576, while the UK's case count now stands at 108,692.

Follow the latest updates below.