Saudi Arabia has halted the entry of Muslim pilgrims seeking to worship at the holy cities of Mecca and Medina as the kingdom attempts to slow the spread of the deadly coronavirus. The Saudi government was “suspending entry to the kingdom for the purpose of umrah and visiting the Prophet’s Mosque temporarily”, the foreign ministry said on Thursday. Umrah is an Islamic pilgrimage that can be performed at any time of year. Some 8m Muslims make the journey annually, with many doing so during the holy month of Ramadan that this year starts in late April. The decision to stop pilgrims from visiting sites such as Medina’s Prophet’s Mosque is likely to divide opinions among religious scholars. While Saudi Arabia has in the past restricted pilgrims from some countries or regions due to diseases, such as during the Ebola outbreak in 2014, a worldwide ban appears to be unprecedented. During the swine flu outbreak of 2009 the Saudi Grand Mufti, the country’s most senior religious leader, expressed astonishment at calls to suspend the main Hajj pilgrimage. “Such fear is absolutely unjustified,” he said at the time, adding that it was permissible for pilgrims to wear protective face masks. It is unclear if the Hajj, due to begin in July, will be affected by the latest restrictions. The annual pilgrimage to Mecca is among the biggest single gatherings of humanity. A record number of more than 3m Muslim pilgrims made the journey in 2012 although numbers have declined since as the government issued fewer visas. The Saudi government plans to increase the number of umrah pilgrims to 30m a year by 2030 as part of its tourism and economic diversification strategy. The foreign ministry said on Thursday it had suspended tourist visa entry from countries where the virus was spreading. Saudi Arabia has not reported any confirmed cases of the coronavirus but seven Saudi citizens who travelled to Iran were among the cases reported in neighbouring Kuwait and Bahrain, where dozens of infections have been confirmed. The Saudi health ministry said it was co-ordinating with the authorities in those countries to treat the infected Saudis. At least 139 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Iran, including the country’s deputy health minister. The first cases were traced to the Shia holy city of Qom. Riyadh’s unprecedented move comes as regional states grapple with the rapid spread of coronavirus cases in the Gulf, largely contracted from visitors to neighbouring Iran, where the official count has 22 deaths from 141 cases. The outbreak in Iran has fuelled a rapid increase in cases in Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman this week. Kuwait’s health ministry on Thursday said the number of infections had risen to 43, all of whom had returned from Iran. To confront the spreading virus, Kuwait is to close all schools, colleges and universities from March 1-12, officials have announced. Bahrain has confirmed 33 patients infected with the virus, saying anyone who returned from Iran in February could be a source of the virus and asking them to identify themselves to the authorities immediately. Both Bahrain and Kuwait have large Shia communities, many of whom travel to Iran for pilgrimage or family visits. Bahrain, which on Tuesday suspended flights to Dubai and Sharjah airports in the United Arab Emirates for 48 hours, on Thursday extended the ban for a further two days. The UAE, a popular transit point for many travelling to Iran, has suspended all flights to the Islamic republic. The UAE, which has now reported 13 cases, was the first to report cases of the virus from among Chinese tourists to the holiday hotspot. Fears for Dubai’s outward-looking services- and tourism-oriented economy, which has struggled with a downturn since oil prices collapsed in 2014, have grown in light of the global impact of the virus. Some bankers in the financial centre of Dubai say their employers have introduced restrictions on travelling between global offices for internal meetings, as well as tighter scrutiny of all travel requests. EFG-Hermes, an Egypt-based investment bank, has cancelled plans for a regional investor conference in Dubai next week. “It’s a precautionary measure,” said one person briefed on the decision. “People were going to be flying in from all over.” Source
