The coronavirus is forcing the Saudi authorities to restrict access to pilgrimages to Mecca. Elderly people, pregnant women, children and people with chronic illnesses will not have a visa.
Pilgrims will be fewer this year in Mecca, Saudi Arabia! Faced with the threat of the new coronavirus, the General Directorate of Health (DGS) indeed warned health professionals on Tuesday (via its DGS-urgent messaging service) that the Saudi Ministry of Health had taken the decision to restrict obtaining a visa for the two pilgrimages (Umrah and Hajj). Only the most fragile people are affected by these restrictions.
This year, the elderly, pregnant women, children and people suffering from chronic diseases (heart disease, diabetics or people with respiratory diseases, kidneys or immune deficiencies) will therefore not be on the trip. However, this decision is not surprising since the Wahhabi kingdom had already advised since July 13 to these fragile populations not to go to the holy city of Muslims on the occasion of these large gatherings.
Since September 2012, when MERS-CoV appeared, 81 confirmed cases of infection, including 45 fatalities, have been reported to the World Health Organization. Saudi Arabia alone has 66 of these reported cases, and currently has 38 deaths.
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