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Saudi plans to bring number of Hajj pilgrims back to pre-pandemic level

Philippines

Saudi plans to bring number of Hajj pilgrims back to pre-pandemic level

By Xinhua

Photo: Xinhua News Agency

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia announced on Monday its plan to bring the number of pilgrims during the upcoming Hajj season back to the pre-pandemic level.

"The number of pilgrims will return to what it was before the pandemic, without any age limit," Saudi Minister of Hajj and Umrah Tawfiq Al-Rabiah told reporters in the capital Riyadh.

He made the remarks during the opening ceremony of Expo Hajj, a four-day conference-cum-exhibition on Hajj and Umrah services held in Jeddah which will run until Jan. 12.

The minister also revealed that the insurance cost for Umrah performers would be slashed by 63 percent and by 73 percent for Hajj pilgrims.

The Hajj season in 2022 was the first one to allow foreign pilgrims to perform after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, as the previous two seasons were limited only to domestic pilgrims. About 60,000 fully vaccinated domestic pilgrims took part in the pilgrimage in 2021 and only 1,000 in 2020.

Following the last pilgrimage, Saudi Arabia extended the Umrah visa from 30 days to 90 days and allows its holder to move all around the kingdom.

In pre-pandemic 2019, about 2.5 million pilgrims participated in the Hajj season in Saudi Arabia.

Related Tags

hajj pilgrims pre-pandemic level SAUDI ARABIA WORLDNEWS

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