COVID-19: 2.5m unable to perform 2020 hajj – Report

Muslim pilgrims walk in a street in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mecca on August 18, 2018, ahead of the start of the annual Hajj pilgrimage. The six-day Hajj, which starts on August 19, is one of the five pillars of Islam, an act all Muslims must perform at least once if they have the means to travel to Saudi Arabia. / AFP PHOTO / AHMAD AL-RUBAYE

But this year only up to 10,000 people already residing in the kingdom will participate in the ritual, a tiny fraction of the 2.5 million pilgrims from around the world that attended last year. Those selected to take part in the hajj were subject to temperature checks and placed in quarantine as they began trickling into Mecca at the weekend.

Hajj authorities have cordoned off the Kaaba this year, saying pilgrims will not be allowed to touch it, to limit the chances of infection. The foreign press are barred from this year’s hajj, usually a huge global media event, as the government tightens access to Mecca. All worshippers were required to be tested for coronavirus before arriving in Mecca and will also have to quarantine after the pilgrimage as the number of cases in the kingdom nears 270,000 – one of the largest outbreaks in the Middle East.

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