JEDDAH – The Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has paced up the preparations to receiving Hajj pilgrims in the Grand Mosque of Makkah.
The ministry has announced to pause the issuance of prayer permits in the Grand Mosque, starting Friday, adding that the process will be resumed on July 24.
The yearly pilgrimage to Makkah is considered the world’s largest human gathering but this year only 60,000 pilgrims have been allowed due to COVID-19 pandemic. All pilgrims coming from within the Kingdom as foreign pilgrims had been banned due to coronavirus situation.
On Thursday, Saudi Arabia reported 15 more COVID-19-related deaths, taking the overall toll to 8,035.
The total number of cases has surged to 506,125 after the Kingdom reported 1,165 new cases. A total of 11,172 cases are active, of which 1,429 are in critical condition.
Meanwhile, Saudi authorities arrested ten people for violating Hajj regulations on Thursday after they failed to produce valid permits. All violators were slapped with a fine of SR10,000 ($2,660).
