MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexican authorities are calling on cemeteries to close to public visitors ahead of the Day of the Dead , a celebration that usually draws hundreds of thousands of people nationwide, as officials strive to avert another wave of coronavirus infections .

The Nov. 1-2 celebration blends Catholic rituals and the pre-Hispanic belief that the dead return once a year from the underworld, and believers throng cemeteries and public plazas on those days.

Ahead of the holiday, cemeteries will largely remain closed, as they could become areas of high risk for contagion, Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell told reporters on Tuesday. The recommendation is to avoid crowds.