As Saudi Arabia found the second victim of the Covid -19, Saudi Arabia has temporarily stopped its nationals and residents from visiting Makkah to perform Umrah or visiting the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah to curtail the spread of the virus, the state press agency said on Thursday.
“The decision was made on the recommendation of the committee monitoring the developments of the situation of the new coronavirus (19-COVID) in the Kingdom.
The announcement added that the decision of temporary suspension for nationals and residents visiting the Holy sites will be reviewed and lifted once “the reasons that called for it are negated.”
The statement also pointed out that the second victim of the virus has come from Iran via Bahrain and he has not told the immigration authorities that he was travelling from Tehran.
Last week, the Kingdom imposed a temporary ban on all pilgrims coming to the holy cities of Makkah and Madinah. Tourist entry visas to the Kingdom have also been suspended as a preventive measure against spread of the virus in the country.
The measures taken by Saudi Arabia comes at a time where the region is witnessing a sharp increase in the number of cases reported in the Middle East, where most of the individuals infected had travelled from Iran, which has reported death toll standing at 92 as of Wednesday, the highest outside China.
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