Saudi Arabia to gradually resume Umrah pilgrimage

 Saudi Arabia will allow pilgrims living inside the country to undertake the Umrah pilgrimage, beginning on October 4, after a seven-month pause thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, state press agency Saudi news agency has reported.

In March, the country had declared a freeze on Umrah, which is an Islamic pilgrimage to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina undertaken any time of the year, attracting 19 million people last year.

Saudi Arabia will now allow 6,000 citizens and residents inside the dominion to perform Umrah daily, representing 30 percent of a revised capacity of 20,000 that takes under consideration precautionary health measures, SPA said.

That will expand to 75 percent of capacity on October 18. Beginning on All Saints' Day , the dominion will allow visitors from specific countries deemed safe to perform Umrah at one hundred pc of the revised capacity, until the top of the pandemic, SPA added.

The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah is developing a mobile application which will be available every week before the Umrah resumes, in order that pilgrims can register and book thereon . they're going to also got to follow the health guidelines provided within the app.

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The decision to resume Umrah came after the dominion organised the littlest Hajj in modern history in late July, with only up to 10,000 Muslims allowed to require part in total – a far cry from the two .5 million who participated last year.

Health authorities said no coronavirus cases were reported at the holy sites during the Hajj, one among the five pillars of Islam and a requirement for able-bodied Muslims a minimum of once in their lifetime.

Hajj pilgrims circled the sacred Kaaba – a cubic structure inside Mecca’s Grand Mosque towards which Muslims round the world pray – along socially distant paths.

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The kingdom has sought to contain a spike in infections, which have now risen to quite 330,000 cases – the very best within the Gulf – and a minimum of 4,500 deaths.

But Saudi Arabia has also reported a high rate of recoveries, which surpassed 312,000 on Tuesday.

Last week, Saudi Arabia partially lifted its suspension on international flights, six months after travel curbs were imposed thanks to the pandemic.

Official data show Hajj and Umrah earn the dominion about $12bn a year.