Coronavirus Outbreak: Saudi Arabia Asks Muslims To Keep Haj Plans On Hold This Year

In the wake of the global pandemic of novel Coronavirus, the Royal Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has urged Muslims in various parts of the world to keep their Haj plans on hold this year. The Saudi Minister of Haj and Umrah pilgrimage, Mohammed Saleh Bin Taher announced on state television on Tuesday that the global pandemic had forced the kingdom to request pilgrims to freeze their plans for now.

The Saudi Minister requested Muslims not to make plans at this stage and urged them to be patient in view of the crisis emerging out of the Coronavirus pandemic.

Saleh Bin Taher observed that the Kingdom is prepared to protect the health of Muslims from all over, as also its own citizens. The Saudi minister asked Muslims to finalise their plans once the picture becomes clearer globally.

The annual Haj pilgrimage, which is one of the five pillars of the Islamic faith, attracts nearly 25 lakh Muslims to the holy cities of Mecca and Madina each year. The novel coronavirus sweeping through continents forced Saudi Arabia to cancel the Umrah pilgrimage earlier in March this year.

Saudi Arabia has recorded 1563 cases of Coronavirus positive patients with 165 people have recovered from the illness, while 10 others have died.

Meanwhile, the United Nations has described the pandemic as the worst crisis since World War II. The global count of Coronavirus patients is now fast approaching 900,000 and in his darkest prediction yet, President Donald Trump said that between a 100,000 to 2,40,000 lives could be lost due to Coronavirus in the US.