Coronavirus wrap October 26 | Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar tests positive; Israel to start human trials for vaccine from Nov 1

India's COVID-19 caseload mounted to 79,09,959 with 45,148 new infections. The death toll climbed to 1,19,014 with 480 new fatalities, the data updated at 8 am showed.

A total of 71,37,228 people have recuperated from COVID-19 so far. There are 6,53,717 active cases of coronavirus infection in the country at present.

Maharashtra's COVID-19 tally remains the highest among Indian states and Union territories. The ministry updates its numbers a day after states release their data.

Globally, there have been over 4.28 crore confirmed cases of COVID-19 and over 11.51 lakh people have died so far.

Here are all the latest updates:

>> Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar has tested positive for COVID-19. He has been hospitalised.

>> Mizoram administration said a lockdown will be imposed in the Aizwal Municipal Corporation area from 4:30 am on October 27 till 4:30 am of November 3.

>> The COVID-19 vaccine being developed by the University of Oxford produces an immune response in both elderly and young people and adverse reactions were lower among the elderly, British drug maker AstraZeneca Plc said on October 25. The vaccine, being developed by Oxford and AstraZeneca, triggers protective antibodies and T-cells in older age groups, news agency Reuters reported.

>> The Maharashtra government on October 26 further reduced the rates for RT-PCR COVID-19 tests conducted by private laboratories.

>> Ban on public events can bring down COVID-19 transmission rate by over 24 percent, a Lancet study has said.

>> Israel said it will start human trials of COVID-19 vaccine from November 1.

>> Italy's Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte tightened nationwide COVID-19 restrictions on October 25 after the country recorded a record number of new cases, despite opposition from regional heads and street protests over curfews.

>> France may be experiencing 1 lakh new COVID-19 cases per day – two times more than the latest figures, Professor Jean-François Delfraissy, who heads the scientific council that advises the French government on the pandemic, said.