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Saudi Arabia’s annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca has fallen to pre-pandemic levels this year, officials said on Monday (January 9) as coronavirus concerns restricted annual religious ceremonies. announced that he would return.
Saudi Arabia’s Hajj and Umrah Minister Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah announced at a conference on the Hajj in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah that the restrictions would be lifted “without age restrictions,” according to the country.Saudi Arabia operates a telecommunications company.
He also allowed “Hajj missions around the world to do business with licensed companies that meet the requirements of pilgrims in those countries.”
A necessary once-in-a-lifetime pilgrimage for every healthy and financially-affordable Muslim, the pilgrimage to Mecca is one of the world’s largest gatherings of people.
Before the pandemic, millions of people flocked to Islam’s holy city of Mecca each year. Mecca has a cube-shaped Kaaba where an observant Muslim prays to him five times a day.
In 2019, more than 2.4 million people took part in the pilgrimage. But in 2020, amid pandemic-induced lockdowns, Saudi Arabia has significantly scaled back the pilgrimage to Mecca, with Saudi residents allowing just her 1,000 to participate. This was an unprecedented move not even seen during his 1918 flu epidemic, which killed tens of millions worldwide.
In 2021, approximately 60,000 Saudi residents will participate. Last year he made the pilgrimage by one million followers.
In recent years, only those between the ages of 18 and 65 were allowed to participate in the Hajj. Saudi Arabia also restricted the private companies that could make travel arrangements for the Hajj.
History of coping with health hazards
The coronavirus is not the first public health disaster to hit the Hajj. The kingdom’s rulers, the Al Saud family, stake their legitimacy in this oil-rich country by overseeing and protecting the site of the Hajj. Ensuring the pilgrimage to Hajj is a priority for them and a major economic driver of billions of dollars in non-oil revenue for Saudi Arabia.
Disease outbreaks have always been a concern around the Hajj. The Pilgrim fought off his 632 malaria outbreak, the 1821 cholera that killed an estimated 20,000, and another cholera outbreak in 1865 that killed 15,000 before spreading around the world. rice field.
Saudi Arabia recently faced danger from another coronavirus that causes Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). The Saudis stepped up public health measures during her 2012 and her 2013 pilgrimage to Mecca, urging the sick and elderly not to participate.
In recent years, Saudi authorities have banned entry of pilgrims from countries affected by the Ebola virus.
It was not immediately clear what health precautions would be taken for the pilgrimage to Mecca, which falls at the end of June this year according to the lunar calendar. Saudi Arabia does not mandate coronavirus vaccines or tests, but pilgrims must be vaccinated against other diseases.
Muslims are forbidden to kiss or touch the cube-shaped Kaaba, the figurative home of God in the center of Mecca, which pilgrims circle as they complete their pilgrimage. increase.
The pilgrimage to Hajj can also involve mass contact, with more than 2,400 people killed in clashes and rampages in 2015.
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