Due to increasing COVID-19 cases in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia the Ministry of Interior has issued the directive of re-imposing physical distancing in the Two Holy Mosques from Thursday, 26 Jumada Al Ula 1443 (December 30, 2021).
The Saudi Ministry of Health said, “The Kingdom reported 602 new coronavirus cases Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases to 553,921. The country reported one new death. There are 39 critical COVID-19 cases in Saudi Arabia.”
A total of 8,873 people have succumbed to the virus in the Kingdom so far. While more 50 million doses of a coronavirus vaccine have been administered in the Kingdom to date.
The Saudi authorities have introduced a number of measures to limit the spread of the COVID-19. In 2020 and 2021 Saudi Arabia suspended the annual Hajj pilgrimage and Umrah for international pilgrims due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since October 2021, Umrah was resumed for local pilgrims while foreign pilgrims were allowed to come since November 2020. Earlier this month, the Kingdom barred all flights from Nigeria effectively ending all hopes for those planning to attend the lesser hajj.
