By Maryam Garba Hassan with agency report
The Saudi Arabia authority has placed a temporary ban on Umrah (lesser hajj) pilgrims in an attempt to ensure public safety and prevent the spread of Corona virus.
The ban which is one of the precautionary measures taken by the Kingdom was announced yesterday by its health authorities in the kingdom who are closely monitoring the spread of the virus.
The authorities who revealed this trough Arab News said the temporary restrictions will be continuously reviewed by the health authorities.
This is coming after it was confirmed that 7 Saudis are mong the latest Corona virus cases recoded in Bahrain and Kuwait.
The authorities reiterated the Kingdom’s support for and the implementation of international efforts to combat the spread of the virus.
It said it has plans to deny entry to holders of tourist visa from countries that pose high risk of spreading the virus.
The government of Saudi Arabia further said Saudi nationals and citizens of Gulf Council countries are not allowed to use national identity card to travel to and from the kingdom for the time being adding that only Saudis returning to the country and citizens of GCC countries who are in the kingdom and want to return to their home countries provided that they left or entered the Kingdom using a national identity card will be allowed in.
Health authorities at the entry points will verify which countries travellers visited before arriving in Saudi Arabia and apply all necessary precautionary measures, it said.
The visitation of the prophet’s Mosque in Madina by pilgrims before or after the completion of religious duties in Makkah has also been stopped by the authorities.
Countries affected by the ban are China, Iran, Kuwait, Italy, Korea, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia ,Pakistan, Afghanistan, Philippines, Singapore, India, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Somalia, and Vietnam.
It would be recalled that nearly 7 million Umrah pilgrims visit the kingdom each year with majority arriving through Jeddah and Madina airports.
However, an unofficial report from tour operators in the kingdom revealed that the ban may be lifted within 48 hours.
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