Rio de Janeiro bars, restaurants and gyms reopen after three months lockdown

In Rio de Janeiro, bars, restaurants and gyms are allowed to operate again on Thursday in the latest stage of reopening that made some experts worried about a new wave of infections. The beaches remained closed for sunbathing, but opened for individual exercise. The allowances came while Brazil's second city tried to return to some normality despite a heavy coronavirus death toll.

Brazil has the world's second largest outbreak behind the United States, with the country's death toll passing 60,000 on Wednesday. In Rio alone, 6,618 people have died of COVID-19 in the past four months. Rio still has an elevated number of daily deaths showing the virus remains highly active. From Sunday to Wednesday, Rio registered 252 deaths due to COVID-19, according to the Ministry of Health.