Riyadh: The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah has raised the daily capacity of Umrah pilgrims to 70,000, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
This number of foreign and domestic pilgrims will be allowed to perform the Umrah daily, within the framework of full compliance with the precautions and preventive protocols against the COVID-19 virus, in cooperation with other relevant authorities.
With a daily capacity of up to 70,000 Umrah pilgrims, the overall number of pilgrims has been increased to 2.1 million per month, according to SPA.
This come after the Saudi ministry of Interior announced on September 7, to lift the suspension of entry to the Kingdom from the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, and Argentina, starting from September 8.
The ministry said that issuance of Umrah permits will be issued through the “Etamarna and Tawakalna” application, and only fully vaccinated people can apply.
The Umrah pilgrims coming from abroad must obtain a vaccination certificate issued by the computer authorities in their countries, and this must be attached to their application. In addition, they must be vaccinated with a vaccine approved by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi authorities stressed the need to adhere to all the precautionary and preventive measures adopted by the Kingdom to curb the spread of COVID-19.
Saudi Arabia started receiving Umrah requests from abroad for vaccinated pilgrims from August 10 (Muharram 1, 1443 AH).
Saudi Arabia allowed foreign pilgrims from green list countries after about 18 months of a temporary ban due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first group of fully vaccinated foreign Umrah pilgrims arrived in Saudi Arabia on August 15 after a temporary COVID-19 travel ban was lifted.
With the start of the current phase, the presidency has provided many services, including the development of thermal cameras and optical sorting operations, support for sterilization operations with 11 artificial intelligence robots, and 20 emergency care devices with dry steam sterilization aside from 500 sterilization pumps.
In addition to providing 500 electronic soap dispensers and 250 fans distributed throughout the Grand Mosque’s courtyards.
The countries currently facing the travel ban – prompted by the continued surge in cases of COVID-19 and its variants – are India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Egypt, Turkey, Brazil, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Lebanon.
The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah on Thursday clarified that foreigners who come to the Kingdom with a tourist visa can perform Umrah after obtaining Umrah permit by completing the procedures on the Eatmarna and Tawakkalna applications.
The ministry said that visa holders could also obtain an Umrah permit by completing the registration process in the Eatmarna application.