Brazil's biggest cities start reopening as COVID-19 surges

A man rides a bicycle near a graffiti with Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and a person depicting the coronavirus pulling a rope against health workers in Sao Paulo, Brazil, June 10, 2020. The graffiti reads:"Which side are you?". REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - Brazil's most populous state Sao Paulo reported a record number of COVID-19 deaths for the second day running on Wednesday even as its homonymous metropolis allowed shops to resume business and prepared to reopen its malls.

The state, the epicenter of the pandemic in Brazil, recorded 340 new deaths in the last 24 hours, raising its confirmed death toll to 9,862, a fourth of the country's total fatalities, the governor's office said.