Pilgrims were quarantined Tuesday in the Muslim holy city of Mecca ahead of the dramatically downsized hajj as Saudi authorities strive to prevent a coronavirus outbreak during the five-day pilgrimage. Mecca Hajj2020 Hajj COVID19
Up to 10,000 people already residing in the kingdom will participate in the annual ritual starting Wednesday, according to hajj officials, a tiny fraction of the 2.5 million international pilgrims that attended last year.
Workers, clutching brooms and disinfectant, were seen cleaning the area around the Kaaba, the structure at the centre of the Grand Mosque draped in gold-embroidered cloth towards which Muslims around the world pray. “There are no security-related concerns in this pilgrimage, but it is to protect pilgrims from the danger of the pandemic,” Khalid bin Qarar Al-Harbi, Saudi Arabia’s director of public security, told reporters on Monday.
They were given elaborate amenity kits that include sterilised pebbles for a stoning ritual, disinfectants, masks, a prayer rug and the ihram, a seamless white garment worn by pilgrims, according to a hajj ministry programme document.The foreign press are barred from this year’s hajj, usually a huge global media event, as the government tightens access to Mecca.
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