Saudi Arabia raises pandemic capacity to 1 million pilgrims for this year’s hajj
Saudi Arabia will let as much as 1,000,000 individuals be part of the hajj pilgrimage this yr, tremendously increasing the important thing occasion to contributors from exterior the dominion after two years of tight COVID-19 restrictions, state media stated on Saturday.
Pilgrims to Mecca this yr should be underneath age 65 and absolutely vaccinated towards the coronavirus, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah stated in an announcement carried by the SPA information company.
Individuals from overseas will probably be allowed this yr however should current a latest unfavorable PCR check, and well being precautions will probably be noticed, it stated.
Final yr, the dominion restricted the annual hajj, certainly one of Islam’s 5 essential pillars, to 60,000 home contributors, in comparison with the prepandemic 2.5 million.
Visits to the holiest websites of Islam in Mecca and Medina for the week-long hajj, and the lesser, year-round umrah pilgrimage, beforehand earned the dominion about $12 billion US a yr, based on official information.
