At least 24,000 pilgrims perform Umrah, no Covid-19 cases detected

No coronavirus cases have been detected among the at least 24,000 pilgrims who have performed Umrah at the Grand Mosque in Makkah since reopened on Saturday, according to local media reports.

Pilgrims have been adhering to all the Covid-19 preventive measures, the spokesperson for the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques said.

“Our precautionary measures plan for Umrah with Covid-19 is based on protection, sanitisation, crowd management, and raising awareness,” said spokesperson Hani Haider.

“We have prepared four isolation sites for pilgrims who show any symptoms of the virus or who are suspected of contracting it. However, no suspected Covid-19 case has yet been reported.”

Saudi Arabia suspended Umrah for citizens and residents in the kingdom due to the coronavirus outbreak in early March.

Read: Saudi temporarily suspends Umrah for citizens, residents over coronavirus outbreak

Last month, the kingdom announced that the Umrah pilgrimage as well as visits to the Holy Mosques will resume from October 4 in phases, with Covid-19 precautionary measures in place.

In the first phase, citizens and expatriates in the kingdom will be allowed to perform Umrah at 30 per cent of the capacity – equating to 6,000 Umrah performers per day, taking into account the health precautionary measures in place at the Grand Mosque.

The second phase, starting from October 18, will see the performance of Umrah, as well as visits from those in the kingdom raised to 75 per cent of the capacity – standing at 15,000 pilgrims per day and 40,000 worshippers a day – at both the Grand Mosque, as well as the Holy Raudah in the Prophet’s Mosque.

Read: Saudi to resume Umrah and visits to the Grand Mosque in phases

The Saudi Ministry of Health announced  468 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, taking the total number of confirmed cases in the kingdom to 337,711.