Saudi Temporarily Bans Religious Pilgrims From Mecca As Covid-19 Outbreak Continues

Saudi is blocking entry to tourists for religious purposes to limit the spread of Covid-19.

The ban will mean pilgrims planning to visit the Kingdom to perform Umrah or visit the Prophet’s Mosque for the purpose of tourism will be blocked. Along with a ban for any tourists travelling from countries which are deemed as in danger of the virus,

The move is part of three measures the Kingdom has taken to control the disease which were announced by the Saudi Press Agency on Wednesday.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Kingdom closely following developments in spread of new Coronavirus, decides to take several precautionary measures to prevent virus from reaching kingdom.https://t.co/TjfnNMUtq5#SPAGOV pic.twitter.com/UDSPz2T4jb

— SPAENG (@Spa_Eng) February 26, 2020

The Kingdom is following the spread of the virus internationally and outlined three temporary measures

Saudi is keen to implement standards approved by the World Health Organization to control and eliminate the virus.

The Kingdom has announced three precautions including; suspending entry to the Kingdom for the purpose of Umrah and visiting the Prophet’s Mosque temporarily, suspending entry to those with tourist visas for those coming from countries in which the spread of the new Coronavirus (COVID-19) is a danger and finally, Saudi nationals and GCC citizens are temporarily suspended from using national identity cards to travel to and from the kingdom. (*Exceptions to this suspension include Saudi nationals abroad wishing to return who exited the kingdom using the national identity card, and GCC citizens in Saudi Arabia who wish to return to their countries and had entered using the national identity card.)