The Saudi Ministry of “Hajj”: 10,000 pilgrims from abroad every day

          Mashat confirmed to "Asharq Al-Awsat" that preparations have been completed ... and that the first plane will be received tomorrow            
           
Dr. Abdel-Fattah Mashat, the Saudi Deputy Minister of Hajj and Umrah, revealed that the number of seats available for those coming from outside Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah is estimated at 10,000 seats per day out of the total numbers allowed to perform the rituals per day, which is estimated at 20,000 pilgrims, explaining that this corresponds to the specified ceiling, It also depends on completing the procedures for pilgrims, which include issuing visas from agents. 

The Saudi Deputy Minister of Hajj and Umrah came before the start of the third phase of Saudi Arabia completing the stages of returning to perform Umrah gradually in the Grand Mosque, which begins tomorrow by allowing pilgrims from outside and within the Kingdom to perform the visit and prayers amid a package of strict precautionary measures in order to preserve the health and safety of the guests of Rahman with a capacity of up to 20 One thousand pilgrims a day, 60,000 worshipers and 19,500 visitors.

Mashat said, in a special statement to Asharq Al-Awsat, that the first plane will arrive tomorrow (Sunday) at King Abdulaziz International Airport from Indonesia, and this flight and the rest of the flights coming from outside Saudi Arabia will be provided by the recently established office of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah to provide assistance with All concerned authorities, and overseeing the implementation of all health measures before they go to Makkah, in order to preserve their safety.

Mashat indicated that the focus is on the size of the outbreak of the epidemic from the countries from which the pilgrims come, the extent of the ability to deal and the speed of response, the rate of recovery of the infected from the virus and the medical precautions for each country, and they are in line with the four controls that have been set in coordination with the Ministry of Health and Infection Control, to measure the level of Adherence, explaining that most of the people coming to perform the Umrah rituals in the past years were coming from Indonesia, Pakistan, and the Arab Gulf states.

Regarding the available period for the pilgrim to remain on Saudi territory, the Deputy Minister of Hajj and Umrah said that the period of the usual visa, as it was in place in the past, is estimated at 30 days, but each Umrah program is specified in which the days are sufficient for the stay of the pilgrim. In most cases, it does not exceed 10 days between Makkah and Madinah, and the arrival time at King Abdulaziz International Airport.

The deputy minister talked about the most prominent preparations, saying: “The equipment is complete in all areas of communication and contact with pilgrims, and there are monitoring and follow-up teams that carry out early detection operations ready and rehabilitate the buses that the pilgrims use to move around, as well as the readiness of hotels to receive and apply the health isolation measures estimated at 3 days. The Umrah rituals will be performed for everyone coming from outside the Kingdom, while the Ministry has prepared an office that works around the clock in Terminal 1 to receive pilgrims coming through scheduled flights on Saudi Airlines, and preparations have been raised in the Grand Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet’s Mosque.

According to the plan that will be implemented tomorrow (Sunday), from the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah and the concerned authorities, pilgrims will be received at King Abdulaziz International Airport and transported via dedicated buses, to hotels in Makkah Al-Mukarramah, of which 10% of the operational capacity has been allocated to hotels eligible to accommodate pilgrims to put isolation cases The estimated 3 days or for suspected cases before moving in any direction to find out the latest medical developments and the condition of the pilgrim.

After that, the regiments will set out to Makkah according to the plan of the third phase for the pilgrims inside and outside the country, as the number of one group will reach 3300 pilgrims, of whom about 1666 are from abroad, and each group will have 3 hours to perform the Umrah rituals to ensure the implementation of the procedures by entering through the gathering centers for the pilgrims established by The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, in direct coordination with the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques, the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Health, so that the promotion is carried out according to the approved times of the “Umrah Us” application.

The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, with the concerned authorities, will rely on the successes in previous experiences (Hajj, the first and second Umrah phases), which did not record any virus infections due to the health applications and protocols that have been applied, and this enhances its capacity and the health sector’s strength to provide care and treatment in case an infection is detected. Any expatriate with the Coronavirus through the comprehensive insurance service, which will include health and flight delay insurance.

The stages of the gradual return to Umrah and the visit had gradually returned after being suspended last March as a precaution to prevent the spread of the new Corona virus (Covid-19), in 4 stages, as the first phase began on October 4, with an operational card. It reaches 30% (6 thousand pilgrims per day), while the third phase started on October 18 with 75% of the operational capacity (15 thousand pilgrims and 40 thousand worshipers per day), while the Umrah and visiting from inside and outside the Kingdom will resume tomorrow, gradually with operational capacity It reaches 100%, and the fourth stage begins as soon as the Corona crisis is declared over or the danger has passed.