Saudi Arabia: Only 1,000 pilgrims within kingdom allowed to perform Hajj

On July 20, Saudi Arabia anunced that it will allow only 1,000 pilgrims from different nationalities residing in Kingdom to perform Hajj and would bar overseas travellers from being issued a Hajj permit amid COVID-19 crisis, as per a news ncy report. Last year, over 2.5 million people attended pilgrim. Hajj authorities, however, haven’t issued details of selection process yet.  

Pilgrims, who will be allowed to perform Hajj this year will be below 65 years of with co-morbidity, Health Minister, Tawfiq al-Rabiah, reportedly said. Furr,  expatriate residents will be asked to here to health safety measures issued by Ministry of Health of Saudi Arabia, he ded.  Ministry of Hajj and Umrah will shortlist names of those approved for Hajj, as per reports. On arrival to  holy city of Mecca, pilgrims will be tested for COVID-19 and are required to quarantine afterwards. ditionally, authorities banned any kind of touching or kissing of Kaaba stone and me face masks mandatory while performing all rituals.  

Moreover, according to  new guidelines, pilgrims will be allowed to drink holy water from Zamzam well in Mecca which is packd in plastic bottles. Furr,  pebbles for casting away evil that's picked up along hajj routes have to be mandatorily sterilized and bagged ahe of time, as per reports. Pilgrims will also have to bring ir own prayer rugs and will t be allowed to gar. 

number of pilgrims will be around 1,000, maybe less, maybe a little more— Hajj Minister Mohamm Benten was quoted as saying by ANI. number will t be in tens or hundreds of thousands this year, he ded.

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More than 161,000 cases

According to a statement by  Center for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), social distancing of 1 and a half meters is required during  Kaaba circling ritual as well as prayers. Access to holy sites at Mina, Muzdalifah, and Mount Arafat was only given to those with hajj permits from July 19 till August 2.  This would be first time that Saudi Arabia has barred foreigners to a limited capacity since founding of Kingdom in 1932. As of July 20, Saudi Arabia recorded more than 161,000 cases, and as many as 1,300 deaths related to COVID-19 were registered, highest in Gulf region.  

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(Im Credit: AP)