Saudi suspends entry of GCC citizens to Makkah and Madinah over coronavirus fears

Saudi Arabia has temporarily suspended the entry of GCC citizens to Makkah and Madinah over coronavirus fears, the kingdom’s foreign ministry said on Friday.

GCC citizens who have been in the kingdom for 14 consecutive days and have not shown symptoms of coronavirus are exempt from the ban. They can obtain a permit from the website of the ministry of Hajj to perform Umrah and visit the holy cities, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

“The kingdom is keen to provide the maximum degree of protection and apply safety standards to preserve the health of visitors to the Grand Mosque and Prophet’s Mosque,” it said.

The precautionary measures are being reviewed in view of new developments in the spread of the virus and additional measures will be taken if the need arises, the report added.

All the GCC states – except Saudi Arabia – have reported confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

Last week, the kingdom announced that all GCC nationals travelling to/from Saudi Arabia would be required to use their passports – rather than IDs – for travel (except for those who are outside the kingdom and wish to return to it).

It also said it would stop issuing Umrah visas as a preventive measure.

Read: Saudi Arabia suspends all Umrah visits

Dubai airline Emirates also announced that it would not permit tourist visa holders and those travelling from over 20 countries to travel to the kingdom, in line with restrictions placed by Saudi.

The countries on the list include – China and SAR (Hong Hong and Macau), Iran, Italy, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Philippines, Singapore, India, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Somalia and Vietnam.”

All those with Umrah visas will also not be permitted to travel to the kingdom, the airline said.

Read: Emirates says travellers from over 20 countries will not be allowed to fly to Saudi