For at least two millennia, Chinese people have headed to their ancestors’ graves on the 15th day after the spring equinox to remove weeds and brush away dirt, to offer food and wine and paper money so Grandma and Grandpa can enjoy the afterlife.

Saturday is Tomb-Sweeping Day. But few will be tending to graves this year, despite the many recent coronavirus fatalities. Thousands of families, especially those in the outbreak’s epicenter, Wuhan, have been unable to bury their dead.