Saudi Arabia on Thursday suspended the entry to the country of foreign pilgrims to Mecca with the aim of curbing the expansion of Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. The measure, which is unprecedented, also temporarily interrupts the issuance of tourist visas to nationals of countries with outbreaks of coronaviruses. So far, no case has been reported within the kingdom, whose holy places visit millions of Muslims from around the world every year. Neighbor Iran, where seven other people have died and 106 new cases have been diagnosed, has banned the entry of Chinese citizens into the country.
The Iranian decision, announced by the state news agency, IRNA, comes after the number of positives by the pathogen almost doubled in the last 24 hours to 245, of those who have died 26. The Islamic Republic, which has Good economic and political relations with Beijing, suspended passenger flights to China in early February in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus. Even so, the authorities say that some businessmen have continued to travel through third countries.
Among the new known cases in Iran, the second country with the most fatalities after China and the main focus of infection in the Middle East, is the Vice President for Women's and Family Affairs, Masumeh Ebtekar. The reformist policy, known to have been a spokesperson for the students who took the U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979, is being treated at home, as reported by a public relations office cited by the Iran newspaper .
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The same newspaper has also reported the death of a former Iranian ambassador to Egypt. Ebtekar, who received the test result this Thursday, is the fourth Iranian leader diagnosed with the disease. Previously, the contagion of a vice minister of health and two deputies had been reported. The authorities have also decided to cancel the Friday noon prayer, the main weekly collective prayer for Muslims, to prevent the transmission of the virus in the agglomerations.
The Saudi Government, meanwhile, has suspended "the entry into the kingdom for the Umrah and the visit of the Prophet's mosque temporarily," according to a statement released by the Foreign Ministry. The Umrah is a pilgrimage that can be carried out at any time of the calendar. Each year it attracts eight million faithful, although the favorite period is usually Ramadan, which in 2020 begins the last week of April.
Riyadh has already restricted access to pilgrims in some countries or areas with outbreaks of contagious diseases in the past, such as Ebola in 2014. However, the current total ban is unprecedented. Although Foreign states that it is a “temporary” measure, it does not specify its duration. Therefore, it will be necessary to wait for the evolution of the disease to know if it reaches the Hajj, or major pilgrimage, scheduled for July and which brings together three million people.
Saudi Arabia has not reported any case of Covid-19 within the country. However, the disease is spreading through neighboring countries: Iran (245 cases and 26 dead), Kuwait (43), Bahrain (33), Arab Emirates (13), Iraq (6) and Oman (4). Seven Saudi citizens who traveled to Iran are among the cases diagnosed in Kuwait and Bahrain, as reported by the Saudi Ministry of Health, which coordinates its care with health officials in both countries.
In addition to its religious character, pilgrimage is also an important source of income for Saudi Arabia. Within the framework of its ambitious economic diversification plan, the Desert Kingdom introduced tourism visas for the first time last October, which citizens of fifty countries can obtain automatically via the Internet or upon arrival in the country. According to official data, 400,000 tourists have visited the kingdom since then, but the goal is to reach 100 million visits by 2030.
The Foreign statement does not clarify which countries will be affected by the new restriction, it only mentions "those where the extension of the new coronavirus is a danger, according to the criteria of the competent health authorities of the kingdom." According to Saudi Arabian television network Al Arabiya, it is about Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Macau, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Somalia, South Korea, Syria, Taiwan , Thailand, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Yemen.
Saudi Arabia was at the center of a similar disease eight years ago, known as the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which was transmitted from camels to humans. But despite his resources and his efforts, it has cost him control. Even last spring there was an outbreak that infected 61 people, of which eight died.