No Touching the kaaba: Saudi Arabia Issues Health Protocols for Limited Hajj

With Covid-19 cases still rising around the world, Saudi Arabia has limited the number of Hajj pilgrims performing this year and established several protocols.

The Saudi Center for Disease Prevention and Control (Weqaya) has developed guidelines to the risk of infection and ensure the health of pilgrims. Saudi Minister of Health Dr Tawfiq Al-Rabiah stated earlier last month that the number of pilgrims will be reduced this year.

Saudi Minister of Hajj and Umrah Mohammed Saleh Benten said that the decision to limit numbers “aims to protect people above everything else, which has been the priority of the Kingdom since the start of the pandemic.”

This year, the lengthy list of procedures concerns both staff and pilgrims. Beginning 19 July onwards, the authorities will ban any illegal entry into Mina, Muzdalifa and Arafat.

Guides and alert indicators will be placed in all locations and written in a number of languages, including Covid-19 contamination alerts, hand washing procedures, sneezing and coughing etiquettes, and alcohol-based hand sanitizers.

Organizers must distribute pilgrims in the Tawaf area around the Kaaba to decrease overcrowding while adhering to a 1.5-meter distance between each person. Organizers at the Holy Mosque must ensure that pilgrims are distributed on all floors of the Saee (ritual walking between Safa and Marwa) and place track lines to maintain social distancing while ensuring that the grounds around the Kaaba and Saee are sanitized by cleaning crews before and after each group performing Tawaf.

Touching the Holy Kaaba and the Black Stone will be forbidden, walls will be installed to discourage the site from being touched, and mosque carpets will be withdrawn to enable visitors to use their personal prayer rugs instead of reducing the risk of any contamination spreading.

Food will not be served in the mosque, nor will it be permitted on the premises of the mosque.

All personnel, guides, pilgrims and workers' temperatures must be tested during the pilgrimage; safety masks and clothing must be worn at all times. Floor signs will be installed in places such as baggage allocation areas, restaurants and bus stops within a meter-and-a-half distance of each floor sign.

Concerning the protocols for Arafat and Muzdalifa, pilgrims must adhere to social distancing at all times, wear masks and organizers must ensure that no more than 10 pilgrims are located in a tent of 50 square meters, ensuring a 1.5-meter distance between each pilgrim. Pilgrims must adhere to designated tracks and organizers must be vigilant and ensure that all pilgrims stay in the line while adhering to social distancing rules.

The organizers must gather no more than 50 pilgrims to the Jamarat (stone pillars) per party, and disinfected and packed pebbles wil be arranged for the pilgrims as well.

Those suspected of carrying the infection will be allowed to perform their pilgrimage only after being evaluated and cleared by a physician. They will be allocated into specific groups of suspected cases, placed in designated accommodation, and in buses with designated tracks to accommodate their condition.

Weqaya 's protocols advised that no workers are allowed to work if they have flu-like symptoms (fever, cough, runny nose , sore throat, or complete lack of sense of smell or taste) before symptoms vanish and are approved by a physician.

Disinfecting and sanitization rounds must be scheduled and organized to ensure that surfaces such as door handles and tables in reception areas, public seating areas, and waiting areas are cleaned around the clock.

Sanitizers must be placed next to ATMs, touch-screen guides, and vending machines while all printed magazines and newspapers must be removed to reduce the possibility of transmission.

Workers at pilgrims’ accommodation must always wear face masks. Guests must wear masks when leaving their rooms and workers must disinfect and sanitize all luggage on arrival.

Weqaya also laid out protocols to decrease the rate of transmission at restaurants and rest stops. Water coolers must be discontinued in the Grand Mosque and holy sites and individual bottled Zamzam water will be available and distributed to pilgrims at all times

Individual pre-packaged meals and meals will be provided to the pilgrims. Workers distributing food must follow strict protocols that include hand washing for no less than 40 seconds using soap and water throughout their shifts, and where they are unable to access it, alcohol-based sanitizers must be used instead for no less than 20 seconds.

Source: Arab News