Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia Expands Ban on Umrah Pilgrimage

By Staff, Agencies

Saudi Arabia banned its citizens and other residents of the kingdom from performing Umrah pilgrimage in Mecca or visiting the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina amid the rapid spread of a coronavirus worldwide, expanding an earlier such ban on foreigners.

The Saudi Interior Ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency on Wednesday that the kingdom had decided “to suspend Umrah temporarily for citizens and residents in the kingdom.”

They were also barred from “visits to the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina”, according to a Foreign Ministry tweet.

The aim is to “limit the spread of the coronavirus and prevent its access to the two holy mosques, which are witnessing permanent and intense crowds, which makes the issue of securing these crowds of utmost importance,” a spokesman for the Saudi Interior Ministry said.

A week earlier, Saudi authorities imposed a ban on overseas pilgrims visiting the country’s holy sites.

The move came as many world countries are grappling with a growing coronavirus outbreak originating from China.

There are concerns that Saudi Arabia — which receives nearly 7 million Umrah pilgrims every year — is not being transparent about how badly it has been hit by the virus.

Saudi Arabia only confirmed its second case on Wednesday, claiming the victim — a Saudi national had returned from Iran via Bahrain.

Riyadh alleged that the Saudi citizen was accompanied by another person who was declared the kingdom’s first case of the coronavirus on Monday.

Riyadh’s last week decision to ban Umrah alone disrupted travel for thousands of Muslims already headed to the kingdom and potentially affects plans later this year for millions more ahead of the holy fasting month of Ramadan and the annual Hajj pilgrimage.