Holy Pilgrimage 'Umrah' Cancellation On Cards For MERS

By Saud Al Ashraf | Jeddah

BREAKING NEWS The Haj Ministry proposed to impose cancellation on holy mini-pilgrimage Umrah due to MERS infection spread across the pilgrim cities Makkah and Madinah.  

According to the sources in ministry received cancellations for Umrah reservations in the wake of the coronavirus, said Abdullah Marghalani, undersecretary at the Haj Ministry and general director of the ministry’s Jeddah branch.

“We take directives solely from the Saudi Health Ministry, the only official body responsible for issuing health advice for the pilgrimage,” he said. “We do not take into account rumors circulating on social networking sites.”
The Health Ministry has reassured residents that the virus has not reached an epidemic stage, he said. This is why the Haj Ministry has taken precautionary measures so far.

“Wearing a face mask is optional and cannot be forced upon pilgrims,” he said. “We have not had any complaints from foreign governments about any of their pilgrims being infected with the virus.

The virus itself has affected Umrah pilgrims so far, it had bad effect on applications for the Haj and Umrah pilgrimages.”

According to official statistics, there have been 3.8 million Umrah pilgrims since the beginning of the season, a 30 percent increase from the 2.5 million pilgrims performing Umrah this time last year,” said Marghalani. Umrah service providers have also indicated a 30 percent increase in the number of applications this year.