Saudi Arabia has on Saturday announced that it will permit 1 million Muslims from within and outside the country to participate in this year's hajj exercise. This comes after two years of COVID-19 restriction, where as part of efforts to prevent the spread of the virus, the country permitted only 1,000 Saudi residents to perform hajj in 2020, and 60,000 pilgrims last year. In a statement, the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah said it "has authorised one million pilgrims, both foreign and domestic, to perform the hajj this year."
According to the statement, the Saudi government requires every foreign pilgrim to submit a negative COVID-19 PCR test result within 72 hours prior to departure to the Kingdom.
The government urged pilgrims to strictly comply with stipulated instructions, particularly precautionary measures from the country's health ministry while performing hajj.
Meanwhile, Nigeria and other countries are patiently waiting for the distribution of the global allocation, with the maximum age limit of 65 years and mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations approved by the kingdom.
