Saudi Arabia limits numbers of Hajj pilgrimage this year

JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia has announced that Haj 2020 will be held but with a very limited number of pilgrims by taking precautionary measures due to novel coronavirus pandemic.

As per details, only Saudi nationals and expatriates of various nationalities will be allowed to perform Haj this year, which is scheduled to be held in late July this year.

The older pilgrims are not allowed to join the rituals due to avoid overcrowding in order to ensure the safety of pilgrims. The kingdom asked Haj applicants in March to put their Haj plans on hold and suspended Umrah until further notice.

The Ministry of Health in Saudi Arabia said in a statement said that 3,393 new confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, bringing the total number to 161,005 cases, including 54,523 active cases receiving necessary medical care.

Of these, there are 2,045 critical cases, while the health condition of the rest is stable. As many as 4,045 cases have recovered, bringing the total recoveries to 105,175, SPA reported.

The Ministry of Health also said that 40 new deaths have been reported; bringing the total deaths to 1,307. “The total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide has jumped to 8,969,827 cases, of which 4,443,409 cases have recovered to date. The COVID-19 death toll has jumped to 468,567,” the Ministry of Health said.