Prevent COVID 19, Saudi Temporarily Suspend the Entrance of Umra Pilgrims

Riyadh, MINA – The Saudi Arabian government has temporarily suspended the entrance of outside all non- Saudi citizens for umra. The policy was carried out to prevent the spread of coronavirus or COVID 19.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Saudi Arabia in a press release on Thursday, February 27 mentioned several countries that were prevented from entering Saudi for a while: including, China, Iran, Italy, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq , The Philippines, Singapore, India, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Somalia and Vietnam.

The policy was taken by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia on the recommendation of the Ministry of Health. The Saudi government says the prevention of the coronavirus is temporary and will continue to be evaluated.

In addition, the Saudis also suspended the suspension of the use of the National Identification Card for its citizens to travel to and from Saudi Arabia, including citizens of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) (Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates).

The death toll of coronavirus outbreaks was reported to reach 2,763 people worldwide until Wednesday, February 26. A total of 2,715 deaths came from China, while 48 deaths outside the country. (T/RE1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)