Pilgrims arrive as S.Arabia readies for downsized Hajj

UAE reports 264 cases and 328 recoveries; 47 infected with virus after family gatherings in UAE; travel bans cannot be indefinite, nations must fight virus at home, says WHO; India adding testing facilities to track virus; star Aishwarya recovers from COVID-19.

- Emadueddin Khalil

Saudi Arabia on Wednesday begins hosting the annual Hajj pilgrimage, dramatically down scaled due to the coronavirus pandemic that has barred millions of international pilgrims for the first time in modern history.

This year, Saudi Arabia’s Hajj Ministry has said between 1,000 and 10,000 people already residing in the kingdom will be allowed to perform the pilgrimage. Two-thirds of those pilgrims will be from among foreign residents in Saudi Arabia and one-third will be Saudi citizens.

Pilgrims are required to be tested for coronavirus before arriving in Makkah and will also have to quarantine after the pilgrimage.

Bans on international travel cannot stay in place indefinitely, and countries are going to have to do more to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus within their borders, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Monday.

A surge of infections has prompted countries to reimpose some travel restrictions in recent days, with Britain throwing the reopening of Europe’s tourism industry into disarray by ordering a quarantine on travellers returning from Spain.