The first Briton with coronavirus is undergoing an antibody test to try and find a cure for the deadly bug, it has been revealed.
Speaking at the daily briefing, Boris Johnson raised hopes that a medical treatment could be found in the near future.
He said: "Today we've put the first British corona patient into a randomised trial for drugs that may treat the disease.
"UK experts, scientists, expect to start trials for the first vaccine within a month. And above all we're getting better at testing."
"This is rapidly coming down the track, but it will take time to come on stream," he said of the scientific advancements.
Johnson also said scientists were making headway in removing the "cloak of invisibility" that surrounds the virus to fully understand its workings.
He added: "To give you an idea of what is coming down the track, we're in negotiations today to buy a so-called antibody test, as simple as a pregnancy test which can tell whether you have had the disease and it's early days, but if it works as its proponents claim, then we will buy literally hundreds of thousands of these kits as soon as practicable.
"Because obviously it has the potential to be a total gamechanger."
The Prime Minister also said he was confident that the nation could 'turn the tide' of the pandemic.
He said: “We can turn the tide within the next 12 weeks.
“And I’m absolutely confident we can send coronavirus packing in this country.
“But only if we all take the steps we have outlined and that is vital.”
There were 2,626 positive cases in England, as of 9am on Wednesday, according to official government figures.
Earlier today Scotland announced that three more people had died of Covid-19, taking the death toll to six.
A further 24 have been infected in Wales, bringing the total to 170, with two people have lost their lives so far.
It was announced earlier today that a coronavirus patient died in Northern Ireland, the country's first Covid-19 fatality.
