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Foreign Hajj pilgrims rejoice in Saudi Arabia after two-year COVID-19 absence
It was only in April 2022 that Saudi Arabia, which banned pilgrims abroad in 2020 and 2021 as part of efforts to mitigate the coronavirus pandemic, announced that one million Muslims, including 850,000 from abroad, would be able to participate this year.
Hajj is usually one of the largest religious gatherings in the world, with about 2.5 million people taking part in 2019, before the pandemic started.
The following year, foreigners were blocked and the total number of worshipers was capped at 10,000 to stop the Hajj from turning into a global super-spreader.
That figure rose to 60,000 fully vaccinated Saudi citizens and residents in 2021.
Though the number is much higher this year, there are still some restrictions: participants must be Muslims aged under 65 who are fully vaccinated and can submit a negative COVID-19 PCR result from a test taken within 72 hours of travel.
Though the number is much higher this year, there are still some restrictions: participants must be Muslims aged under 65 who are fully vaccinated and can submit a negative COVID-19 PCR result from a test taken within 72 hours of travel.
The Hajj officially begins Wednesday (July 6), and Mecca is already overrun with worshipers who, are relieved to have finally reached their destination.
A 30-year-old Russian pilgrim who gave her name as Halima said she had been imagining her stay in Mecca for more than a decade.
Muslim pilgrims flock to holy Mecca for first post-pandemic Hajj
The Hajj costs at least $5,000 per person, and Halima said she shared her story with friends to drum up funds for both her and her father to come.
“Yesterday was the first time I saw the Kaaba,” she said, referring to the large black cubic structure at the center of the Grand Mosque. "It is my dream to be here, and now I am living it.”
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