Foreign Pilgrims Perform Umrah in Mecca
From Sunday, some 10,000 pilgrims from abroad were allowed to perform the Umrah pilgrimage, slaati.com website reported.
Umrah is a pilgrimage to Mecca which Muslims can traditionally take at any time of the year, unlike Hajj pilgrimage that can be performed only in the first days of the lunar Hijri month of Dhul Hajja.
Preventive measures were taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus among the worshippers.
The Grand Mosque in Mecca and Prophet Mosque in Medina are disinfected regularly, the president of the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques said on Twitter.
Also, the Umrah pilgrims from abroad were required to self-isolate for three days after arriving in Saudi Arabia before being allowed to enter the Grand Mosque.
Saudi Arabia had suspended Umrah in March due to the coronavirus outbreak.
It announced last month that the pilgrimage would resume in four stages.
Saudi residents were allowed to perform the Umrah in October, and this month numbers were raised to accommodate pilgrims from abroad.
