Saudi Arabia announces to resume international Umrah pilgrimage from Nov 01

RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has announced to resume the Umrah pilgrimage for international pilgrims from November 01 after suspension of months amid COVID-19 pandemic, ARY NEWS reported.

According to the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah Saudi Arabia, the international Umrah will resume from November 1st, 2020.

All eligible countries will be informed by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah

— Haramain Sharifain (@hsharifain) October 25, 2020

“All eligible countries will be informed by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah,” a message posted on the Twitter handle of the Haramain Sharifain read.

Announcing the protocols for the resumption of International Umrah, it said that a negative PCR test no earlier than 72-hours before departure time in origin will be needed from the pilgrims while a quarantine period of three days must be completed in the hotel.

“Each group must be accompanied by a registered guide as no individual will be allowed to perform the Umrah,” it said while directing the pilgrims to arrive in the Kingdom with a registered group.

It is pertinent to mention here that at least 24,000 pilgrims have performed Umrah since the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia partially resumed the pilgrimage with extensive health precautions after a seven-month coronavirus hiatus.

No coronavirus case has thus far been reported among pilgrims, the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques said in a statement.

“On the fourth day of the pilgrimage, we received some 24,000 worshipers, none of whom showed symptoms of the virus,” Saudi media quoted the spokesman of the presidency as saying.

The presidency focused on four main elements, – prevention, disinfection, evacuation and awareness – as part of its plan to resume Umrah, he said.

“The presidency coordinated with the Health Ministry in preparing four health isolation centers for any pilgrim who shows any symptoms of the virus or who is suspected of contracting it,” he added.