RIYADH: Saudi Arabia today (Saturday) restricted the annual Hajj pilgrimage to citizens and residents and set a maximum of 60,000 pilgrims in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the state Saudi Press Agency reported.
According to the Hajj Ministry, only people aged between 18 and 65 who have been vaccinated will be able to take part. The pilgrimage, scheduled to be held at the end of July, would be limited to those who have been vaccinated with no chronic illnesses.
“In light of what the whole world is witnessing from the continuing developments of the coronavirus pandemic and the emergence of new mutations, Hajj registration will be limited to residents and citizens from inside the Kingdom only,” the Saudi Hajj ministry announced on Twitter.
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تعلن #وزارة_الحج_والعمرة عن آليات وضوابط #حج_1442هـ pic.twitter.com/Ljz1Ex3Prq— وزارة الحج والعمرة (@HajMinistry) June 12, 2021
It will be the second year in a row that the kingdom hosts a downscaled Hajj amid the coronavirus pandemic. The Hajj — a must for able-bodied Muslims at least once in their lifetime — typically packs millions of pilgrims into congested religious sites and could be a major source of contagion.
0Only up to 10,000 Muslims took part in last year, a far cry from the 2.5 million who participated in the five-day annual pilgrimage in 2019. In a relaxation of coronavirus curbs last October, Saudi Arabia opened the Grand Mosque for prayers for the first time in seven months and partially resumed the all-year-round Umrah pilgrimage.
