Coronavirus forces Mexicans to celebrate Day of the Dead early

FILE PHOTO: People stand next to graves on the Day of the Dead to pay homage to their dead relatives at the cemetery of Metepec on the outskirts of Mexico City, Mexico November 1, 2018. REUTERS/Andres Stapff

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexicans this year paid their respects early to departed loved-ones in the capital city, where the coronavirus pandemic will cast a pall over cemeteries usually resplendent with color and light during the Nov. 1-2 Day of the Dead celebrations.

The festive tradition typically draws thousands of people to burial grounds and public plazas across Mexico, many dressed as skeletons, to picnic at gravesides and decorate altars with sugar skulls and photos of dead friends and relatives.