All international visitors planning to enter the Grand Mosque in Makkah and the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah will no longer be required to present proof of vaccination after such a rule has been abolished.
The recent changes applied for arrivals wishing to enter the Kingdom have been confirmed by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, VisaGuide.World reports.
In addition, the Ministry announced that it would also abolish the social distancing measures in the two holy mosques while stressing that the requirement to wear a face mask will continue to be applied.
Authorities in the Kingdom have clarified that the requirement to present a negative result of the PCR or rapid antigen test has been abolished.
According to the figures provided by the World Health Organisation (WHO), authorities in Saudi Arabia have registered a total of 748,121 cases of COVID-19 infection since the start of the pandemic, while a total of 9,013 people have died during the same period.
In addition, the data provided by WHO also shows that a total of 2,055 people have tested positive for the Coronavirus in Saudi Arabia in the last seven days, while a total of 11 people have lost their lives due to the virus during the same period.
Due to the Coronavirus situation and the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, authorities in other countries tightened their entry rules for arrivals from other countries in an effort to halt the further spread and protect the citizens’ health.
Therefore, up to this point, authorities in Saudi Arabia urged travellers to present a negative result of the Coronavirus test not older than 48 hours upon their arrival.
Back then, the Ministry stressed that this applied to “regardless of their vaccination status, starting next Wednesday.”
In addition, authorities in Saudi Arabia also applied strict rules for its citizens.
The Interior Ministry stressed that all citizens of Saudi Arabia would be obliged to take a COVID-19 vaccine booster dose to travel outside the Kingdom. The Ministry back then stressed that such a decision would become effective on February 9.
Umrah is a pilgrimage that Muslims must complete by visiting the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia and also performing a series of religious rituals.
The Umrah visa is a travel document which is issued by authorities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), permitting travellers to enter the country in order to perform Umrah pilgrimage.