US coronavirus deaths near 120,000: Live updates

• A former US Food and Drug Administration commissioner has warned that some US states, including Texas, Florida and Arizona, could start to see an “exponential” rise in coronavirus cases this coming week. Commissioner Scott Gottlieb sounded the alarm as the US death toll hit 119,959, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally.

• The World Health Organization reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases, with the total rising by 183,020 in a 24-hour period. The biggest increase was from North and South America with over 116,000 new cases, according to a daily WHO report on Sunday.

• Brazil, the world’s No 2 coronavirus hot spot after the United States, officially passed 50,000 coronavirus deaths, with 50,617 death toll as of the end of Sunday. It has 1,085,038 total number of cases, according to the country’s health ministry.

• Worldwide, at least 8.9 million people have been confirmed to have the coronavirus, At least 4.4 million have recovered, while more than 466,000 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Here are the latest updates:

Monday, June 22

00:51 GMT – Report: 40 US baseball players, staff positive for COVID-19

As a vote by Major League Baseball players on whether to accept the owners’ latest proposal to play the 2020 season continues to be delayed, a USA Today report surfaced that a large of positive COVID-19 tests is main reason for the delay.

Citing two sources close to the situation, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported that 40 MLB players and staff members tested positive for COVID-19 in the last week.

According to Nightengale, the recent uptick in COVID-19 infections will push the start of the season back to July 26 at the earliest, with spring training resuming no earlier than June 29. The owners and players had previously agreed to restart the season on July 19, according to Reuters News Agency.

00:32 GMT – Mexico reports 5,343 new coronavirus infections, 1,044 deaths

Mexico has reported 5,343 new infections and 1,044 additional deaths from the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, the health ministry said, bringing the totals for the country to 180,545 cases and 21,825 deaths.

The government has said the actual number of infected people is likely significantly higher than the confirmed cases, Reuters News Agency said.

00:01 GMT – Mexico to resume sending farm workers to Canada after safety deal

Mexico will resume sending temporary farm workers to Canada after the two countries reached a deal on improved safety protections for labourers on Canadian farms during the coronavirus pandemic, Reuters News Agency reported.

Mexico’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the Temporary Agricultural Workers Program (PTAT) had “entered into operation once again after a temporary pause.”

Mexico said last Tuesday it would pause sending workers to farms with coronavirus infections after at least two of its nationals died from COVID-19 after outbreaks on 17 Canadian farms.

Canadian farmers rely on 60,000 short-term foreign workers, predominantly from Latin America and the Caribbean, to plant and harvest crops.

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Hello and welcome to Al Jazeera’s continuing coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. I’m Ted Regencia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. 

You can find all the key developments from yesterday, June 21, here. 

SOURCE:
Al Jazeera and news agencies