The faithful take an excursion to the Kaaba at the Grand Mosque of Mecca on October 4.
Photographer: AFP Getty Images
The faithful take an excursion to the Kaaba at the Grand Mosque of Mecca on October 4.
Photographer: AFP Getty Images
Photographer: AFP Getty Images
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Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (AP) – On Sunday, a very small number of people dressed in the symbolic white sponge clothing of the Muslim pilgrimage and surrounded Islam’s holiest place in Mecca after Saudi Arabia lifted decades-long restrictions on coronaviruses.
The kingdom had taken the rare step in early March to suspend the small pilgrimage of the “umra”, which can be performed at any time of the year and attracts millions of people from all over the world, while coronavirus has become a global pandemic and has led countries to impose closures and curfews to reduce transmission.
But as nations begin to ease these restrictions, the Saudi government began Sunday to allow up to 6,000 pilgrims a day to enter the expanding Grand Mosque in Mecca. Only Saudi citizens and citizens will be able to enter the mosque in this first phase of reopening, and each user has up to 3 hours to complete the pilgrimage.
The Grand Mosque, which is sterilized and cleaned several times a day, houses the cube-shaped Kaaba to which practicing Muslims pray five times a day.
Before visitors can enter the mosque to pray or perform the Umra, they must electronically request and book an express date and time through an online app to avoid overcrowding and maintain social distance. Visitors can also choose their shipping methods and meeting problems. through the app.
State television showed on Sunday what gave the impression of being less than 50 more people surrounding the Kaaba at the same time and walking several meters away. As a general rule, the mosque was filled with faithful from all over the world crowded from appearance to appearance at all hours. day and night.
The moment phase of easing restrictions on the Grand Mosque takes effect on 18 October, allowing a maximum of 15,000 pilgrims and 40,000 for prayer between citizens depending on the hours assigned to the application.
Muslim travelers from outside Saudi Arabia may be able to make the pilgrimage to Omra from 1 November, the Ministry of the Interior said. Saudi Arabia recently began to ease some restrictions on foreign flights for the first time since March.
The kingdom organized a very small symbolic hajj pilgrimage in July, fearing that it would easily be a global occasion for the virus’s super spread. Pilgrims decided after applying through an online portal and were all citizens of Saudi Arabia. of the kingdom’s more than 2 million pilgrims for the annual occasion, only 1,000 participated after being screened for the virus and quarantined.
Despite the first radical measures to involve the virus, Saudi Arabia has recorded nearly 336,000 cases, totaling 4,850 deaths.