WHO official says Saudi Arabia implemented strong measures to resume Umrah

Saudi Arabia put in place strong measures to reopen the two Holy Mosques and resume Umrah amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the director general of World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

Ghebreyesus said on his official Twitter account that WHO is grateful for the leadership and support of Saudi Arabia to accelerate the availability of tools to combat the pandemic.

According to data compiled by Argaam, on Sept. 22, Saudi Arabia announced four phases to resume Umrah, amid compliance with the required preventive health procedures.

The first phase, which began on Oct. 4, allowed 30% of total capacity, or 6,000 pilgrims per day from within the Kingdom, to perform the pilgrimage while ensuring all necessary health and safety precautions.

The 14-day second phase of Umrah resumed, on Oct. 18, with 220,000 pilgrims allowed to perform rituals and 560,000 worshippers performing daily obligatory prayers in the Grand Mosque.