Saudi Arabia suspended Umrah, the small Muslim pilgrimage, "temporarily" on Wednesday, an unprecedented measure to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus. This decision concerns "citizens (Saudi) and foreign (residents)" and aims to "ensure the safety of crowds" , said the official agency added SPA, citing a source in the Interior Ministry.
The authorities suspended a week ago the granting of visas for Umrah, a pilgrimage that can be undertaken throughout the year, and decided to suspend, "temporarily" there too, the entry of pilgrims. The measure concerns the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina, the first two holy places of Islam, "which experience a permanent and intense flow of human crowds, which makes securing these crowds of the utmost importance ", according to the same source.
The suspension of Umrah, which attracts millions of pilgrims to Saudi Arabia every year, will be subject to a “permanent review” and will be “canceled as soon as the reasons which justified it disappear” , a- she clarified.
On Wednesday, Saudi Arabia confirmed a second case of infection with the new coronavirus, the Ministry of Health said that it was a man who accompanied another Saudi who was declared infected with the virus on Monday.
The Saudi authorities have not yet expressed themselves on possible precautionary measures in the organization of the hajj, the great pilgrimage to Mecca planned this year between the end of July and the beginning of August. The hajj, one of the largest gatherings in the world, had gathered some 2.5 million worshipers in 2019. Saudi authorities expected 2.7 million pilgrims for 2020, according to the website of the ministry responsible for organizing Umrah and Hajj.
