RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) – Saudi Arabia on Monday unveiled new main points on how it planned to allow Muslims to return to Islam’s holiest place in Mecca to make the smallest pilgrimage of the whole year, which has been suspended for more than seven months. Coronavirus.
Hajj Minister Muhammad Benten said the kingdom will launch an online app that will allow citizens, citizens of Saudi Arabia and visitors to electronically request and book an express date and time when they can make the pilgrimage, known as “umra,” to avoid overcrowding and social distance. Guidelines.
The minister, who spoke at a virtual seminary, did not say when the pilgrimage would be allowed to resume or how many others would be allowed to do so at the same time.
The kingdom carried out a particularly reduced symbolic hajj pilgrimage in July, fearing that it will seamlessly become a global virus over-propagation event. Pilgrims made up their way after applying through an online portal and were all citizens of Saudi Arabia. Instead of the more than 2 million pilgrims the kingdom welcomes to the annual event, only 1,000 have attended after being screened for the virus and quarantined.
Saudi Arabia began on Monday to ease some restrictions on foreign flights for the first time in six months.
The kingdom has allowed Arab Gulf citizens and foreign citizens of Saudi Arabia to enter the country, provided they are not inflamed by the coronavirus The kingdom has also allowed some citizens of Saudi Arabia, such as Saudi scholars on scholarships and foreign embassy staff, to leave and enter the kingdom.
Despite taking early and radical steps to involve the virus, Saudi Arabia has recorded more than 330,000 cases, more than 4,500 deaths.