F.P. Report
ISLAMABAD: Saudi Arabia on Thursday placed an immediate ban on Umrah pilgrims travelling from the countries where coronavirus cases have been confirmed including Pakistan, local news channel reported, quoting airport sources.
According to airport sources, the ban has also been placed on those travelling to the Kingdom on a visit visa.
The move from the Saudi government follows the confirmation of two coronavirus cases in Pakistan on Wednesday evening.
All airlines have been directed to inform their passengers to wait for further orders.
The government is “suspending entry to the Kingdom for the purpose of Umrah and visiting the Prophet’s Mosque temporarily”, the Saudi foreign ministry said in a statement.
Umrah attracts tens of thousands of Muslims from all over the globe each month.
The foreign ministry said it was also suspending visas for tourists visiting from countries where the new virus is a “danger”.
Data from the Saudi Hajj and Umrah Ministry show that as of last December, Indonesia contributed the second-highest number of umrah pilgrims with 443,879 arrivals, just below Pakistan with 495,270. The country welcomes nearly 7 million Umrah pilgrims every year, most of whom arrive at airports in Jeddah and Madinah.
In addition to the temporary Umrah ban, the Saudi government will also impose a similar ban on tourist-visa holders from “countries judged to pose a particularly high risk of spreading the virus”.
According to Arab News Pakistan, Saudi nationals and citizens of Gulf Cooperation Council nations will not be able to use a national identity card to travel to and from the Kingdom for the time being. However, an exception to this shall be granted to Saudis returning home, and citizens of GCC countries who are in the Kingdom and want to return to their home countries provided that they left or entered the Kingdom using a national identity card.
The coronavirus outbreak has already killed more than 2,700 people, most of them in China, and spread to about 29 other countries, according to a Reuters tally. The number of confirmed cases has risen above 80,000.
The new coronavirus is believed to have originated in a market selling wildlife in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year and has infected about 80,000 people and killed more than 2,700, the vast majority in China.
Even as the number of fresh cases declines at the epicentre of the disease in China, there has been a sudden increase in parts of Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
Iran has emerged as a major hotspot in the region, where 19 people have succumbed to the disease — officially known as COVID-19.
Saudi Arabia has not yet had a confirmed case of the novel coronavirus. The Kingdom’s neighbouring countries Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates have however confirmed a number of cases.
Pakistan confirms first two cases of coronavirus
On Wednesday, Pakistan reported its first two cases of coronavirus, Special Assistant to PM on Health Dr Zafar Mirza confirmed. “I can confirm first two cases of coronavirus in Pakistan. Both cases are being taken care of according to clinical standard protocols & both of them are stable,” Dr Mirza wrote on Twitter.
He also noted that there was “no need to panic [as] things are under control”.
