The Latest: India reports record surge, Modi gets 2nd shot

NEW DELHI — New cases in India hit a record on Thursday with 126,789, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi got his second shot and urged others to follow suit, saying “vaccination is among the few ways we have to defeat the virus.”

India started its vaccination drive in January. So far, more than 90 million health workers and those over 45 have received at least one shot. Only 11 million have received both doses as India tries to build immunity to protect its nearly 1.4 billion people.

Dozens of cities and towns are imposing night curfews to try to contain the surge but the federal government has refused to impose a second nationwide lockdown for fear of hurting the economy.

Fatalities rose by 685 in the past 24 hours, the highest since November. The western state of Maharashtra, the worst hit in the country, accounted for nearly 47% of new infections.

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THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

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— Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey says the state is shifting to personal responsibility in the fight against COVID-19. Ivey says she was issuing a “greatly slimmed down” health order that has few restrictions but encourages people to continue to take precautions such as voluntarily wearing masks.

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