Saudi Arabia eases Covid curbs on Hajj

12 April 2022
One million pilgrims will be permitted to attend this year as more social curbs are eased in the region

The number of Covid-19 cases in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region reached 19,442,770 on 12 April, according to Worldometers data collated by MEED.

Countries in the GCC account for 18.6 per cent (3,588,395) of all regional cases, while Iran’s 7,194,768 infections make up 37.3 per cent of the regional tally.

Case growth is slowing in the Mena region as more countries introduce booster dose programmes, paving the way for the further easing of social restrictions.

Saudi Arabia will allow 1 million pilgrims to perform Hajj this year compared to 60,000 last year and 1,000 in 2020. Travel bans are also being eased in countries such as Iraq, where vaccinated Iranian pilgrims are no longer required to present PCR tests upon arrival. In Abu Dhabi, students will return to in-person learning from the new academic year.

Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia will allow 1 million pilgrims to perform Hajj in June after reducing numbers for the past two years due to the pandemic. The Ministry of Hajj & Umrah said the 1 million total will include both foreign and domestic pilgrims under the age of 65 who have been fully immunised against Covid-19.

Pilgrims arriving from abroad must submit negative PCR test results received within 72 hours before departure. One thousand pilgrims were allowed to participate in Hajj in 2020 and 60,000 in 2021. Around 2.5 million people performed the pilgrimage in 2019.

Earlier this month, the kingdom’s deputy minister of health for preventive health, Abdullah Asiri, also denied rumours of Saudi Arabia providing fourth booster doses to people aged 60 years and above or that changes have been made to the health status category, local media reported.

UAE
Students in Abu Dhabi must return to in-class learning in the new term and present a negative PCR test taken within 96 hours prior to their first day of returning to school. Students can be exempted from in-person attendance if they submit an attested report proving their ‘high-risk’ health status or present symptoms of Covid-19.

Unvaccinated students aged over 16 years must produce a negative PCR test result every seven days, while vaccinated students must do so every 14 days and show their ‘green’ health status on the Al-Hosn app.

Students aged below 16 years must take a PCR test every 30 days. Free tests are available at Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (Seha) drive-through and private medical centres. Students aged under 12 years may also opt for free saliva tests.

Bahrain
Bahrain’s National Medical Taskforce for Combatting the Coronavirus has allowed individuals aged 18 years and older to take an optional Covid-19 booster shot periodically every nine months from the date of their last booster shot.

They may take the Pfizer-BioNTech jab or the same vaccine as their previous booster shot. The status of such individuals will not change from ‘green’ to ‘yellow’ on Bahrain’s BeAware app if they do not opt for a second or additional booster shots.

Oman
Over 7 million doses of a Covid-19 vaccine have been administered in Oman, a health ministry official said earlier this week, adding that another 8 million doses have been reserved for use in the country. Local media reported that studies are also being conducted to administer fourth or booster doses of the vaccine.

Iran
Tehran has received 2.83 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from Bulgaria. The shipment raises the total number of vaccine doses imported by Iran since February 2020 to 158,056,808, according to local media. Health Minister Bahram Einollahi said Iran also exports jabs to 10 African countries.

Egypt
Washington has delivered an additional 1.5 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to Egypt, raising its total shipments to the country to 25 million doses. The US government said it has provided more than $55m to support Egypt’s coronavirus response.

Iraq
Baghdad has reportedly dropped the requirement for Iranian pilgrims to present PCR test results while arriving in Iraq. Iranian media reported the negative test mandate has been lifted to facilitate the movement of pilgrims, but Iranian travellers must have a valid vaccination card issued by the health ministry to prove they have received two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.

Jordan
Adel Bilbeisi, health adviser at the prime minister's office and the official in charge of Jordan’s Covid-19 response, said earlier this week that Jordan’s case and death rates had recorded week-on-week declines of 57 per cent and 59 per cent, respectively.

More than 4.7 million people have received the first dose of a vaccine, while 4.4 million people have received two doses and 637,755 people have taken booster vaccine shots.

Lead image: Spa / archives

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