Kingdom authorities have announced they will temporarily arrest the "small" pilgrimage to holy sites in the country that carry more than 19 million people a year • The virus continues to spread in the Middle East and dozens of new cases have been diagnosed in Iran, Bahrain and Iraq

• Pilgrimage to Kaaba in Mecca // Photo: IP

Saudi Arabia announced on Thursday a halt to the influx of pilgrims to Islamic holy cities in the country, an unusual step for the country that considers itself the sanctuary of Islamic saints. The state also declared a halt to tourism to the state and a reduction in the entry visas for foreigners to a minimum.

The decision comes after more than 220 cases of the Corona virus were discovered in the Middle Pier, most of them in Iran. The fear in Riyadh is that the influx of incessant pilgrims, those who carry out the Umra, the "small pilgrimage", will spread the virus in a similar way to what happened in the holy city of Shiites in Iran.

[video]

"Saudi Arabia emphasizes its support for any international move that could limit the spread of the virus and calls on civilians to exercise caution before traveling outside the country. May Allah protect humanity from any harm," the Saudi Foreign Ministry statement said.

More on:

Forbidden City: Know the destination you will never visit

Hiding, denying and running out of hands: Iran has become a new focus of the Corona eruption

Not immune: Corona plague strikes Europe

Corona fight: China has banned wildlife eating

More than 19 million people from all over the world perform this year. The decision to close the pilgrim route, one of the world's busiest tourist routes, comes just months before the Hajj, the annual pilgrimage under which more than two million people arrive in the holy city in less than a month.

In the past, authorities in the Arabian Peninsula stopped pilgrimage due to epidemics, especially in the nineteenth century when two outbreaks of cholera disease killed thousands of pilgrims and spread from the holy city all over the Middle East.

The spread of the virus in the Middle East continues

Iraq this morning reported a six-year-old Corona patient diagnosed in the country, a resident of Baghdad in his forties, who visited Iran this past week. Authorities in the country are especially concerned about the spread of the Corona virus due to the poor state of the Iraqi health system and the shortage of hospital beds in the country and the drugs.

In Bahrain, the number of virus infections rose to thirty-three this morning, with seven new cases of the virus being detected, most of them from travelers arriving in Iran.

Iranian women with masks for protection from the virus // Photo: Reuters

While Iran is the focus of the country's corona eruption, during the night, its officials announced that Shanghai, China, had begun searches for people who came into contact with an Iranian man who came to China when he was infected with corona.

More than 139 people have been diagnosed with the Corona virus in Iran, most of them in Qom, the eighth largest city in the country. At this time, 19 people in the country have died as a result of the virus.