Saudi Arabia has temporarily suspended Umrah, the small Muslim pilgrimage that can be undertaken throughout the year, to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, the official SPA news agency said on Wednesday (March 4th). .

This decision concerns "citizens (Saudi) and foreign (residents)" and aims to "ensure the safety of crowds", added SPA, citing a source in the Interior Ministry.

The measure applies to the two holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Cities "which know a permanent and intense flow of human crowds, which makes securing these crowds of the utmost importance", justified the source.

It will be subject to a "permanent review" and will be "canceled as soon as the reasons which justified it disappear", she specified.

At the end of February, Saudi Arabia had already decided to suspend the entry of foreign pilgrims going to the kingdom to perform Umrah.

First case of coronavirus in Saudi Arabia

The Saudi Ministry of Health also confirmed on Monday the first case of a new coronavirus in the kingdom, a person tested positive after his return from Iran.

More than 150 cases have been recorded in the Gulf, most of them returnees from the Islamic Republic, one of the most important centers of the epidemic in the world.

On Wednesday, the Iranian Ministry of Health announced the death of 15 people infected with the new coronavirus, bringing the toll of the epidemic to 92 dead out of 2,922 cases of infections in Iran.

With AFP

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