Mecca Grand Mosque Drops Social Distancing, 1st Time Since Covid Outbreak

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Mecca: The Great Mosque in the Holy City of Muslims in Mecca in Saudi Arabia is operated in the full-capacity week, with worshipers praying shoulder-to-shoulders for the first time since the Pandemic Coronavirus began.

Workers remove the floor sign that guides people to social distance inside and around the Great Mosque, which is built around Kaaba, black cubic structure where Muslims throughout the world pray.

“This is in line with the decision to facilitate preventive measures and to enable pilgrims and visitors to the Great Mosque with full capacity,” reported Saudi official agents.

Images and recordings on Sunday morning showing people praying side by side, making a row of pilgrims who are respected in doing Muslim prayers, for the first time since the Pandemic of Covid-19 last year.

While the social distance measures are appointed, authorities say visitors must be fully vaccinated against Coronavirus and must continue to wear masks on the reasons of the mosque.

Also, Kaaba remains locked and out of reach.

Saudi Arabia announced in August will begin accepting vaccinated foreigners who want to make a pilgrimage of Umrah.

Umrah can be done anytime and usually attract millions from all over the world, like the annual Hajj, which is owned by Muslims who have the ability to do at least once in their lifetime.

In July, only around 60,000 inoculated citizens were allowed to take part in an enhanced annual hajj form.

Pandemic Covid-19 is very disturbed by both Muslim pilgrimage, which is usually the main income for the kingdom that combines $ 12 billion every year.

Hosting pilgrimage is a prestige problem for Saudi rulers, for whom the Kustodianship of the most holy Islamic sites is the most powerful source of political legitimacy.

The kingdom which was once very closed began to issue Visas tourists who allow foreign visitors to do more than a pilgrimage for the first time in 2019 as part of ambitious encouragement to change its global image and diversify income.

Between September 2019 and March 2020, it was issued by 400,000 of them – only for a pandemic to destroy the momentum because the limit was closed.

But the kingdom slowly opened, and had begun to welcome foreign tourists who were vaccinated since August 1.

Saudi Arabia also announced that a fully inoculated sports fan will start from Sundays allowed to attend events in all stadiums and other sports facilities, report spas.

It also said that masks in most open spaces were no longer mandatory.

Saudi Arabia has registered more than 547,000 Coronavirus cases and 8,760 deaths.