Shanghai authorities move to prevent large gatherings for Qingming Festival

The Shanghai Civil Affairs Bureau on Friday advised residents to stagger their visits to cemeteries and funeral homes during the Qingming Holiday from April 3 to 5 to minimize the risk of exposure to COVID-19.

The Qingming Festival, during which Chinese people pay respects to their forefathers by visiting their graves, will fall on April 5 this year.

According to Zeng Qun, the deputy head of the bureau, all funeral and interment service vendors started offering services on March 7, two weeks earlier than usual, to offer residents more time slots to fulfill their traditional obligations.

Individuals who prefer to visit the graves in person on peak days, which are March 26 and 27 as well as April 2 to 5, will have to schedule an appointment with the cemeteries via the official WeChat platforms.

Upon entering the cemetery, visitors will be required to wear a mask and present their personal health QR codes, itinerary codes, and negative nucleic acid test reports within 48 hours prior to the visit.

In addition, the number of reservations for each cemetery has been capped at 50 percent of the maximum daily visitor capacity, Zeng said.

"Many organizations have provided online tomb-sweeping services which allow people to carry out the tomb-sweeping rituals virtually. Collective tomb-sweeping ceremonies are also available for residents," he added.