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Saudi leadership lauded for successful completion of Hajj

Arab Parliament President Adel bin Abdulrahman Al-Asoumi, in a statement, lauded the health and security measures taken by the Kingdom to make Hajj season a success….reports Asian Lite News

The Gulf countries have congratulated Saudi Arabia’s King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the success of this year’s Hajj season.

Arab Parliament President Adel bin Abdulrahman Al-Asoumi, in a statement, lauded the health and security measures taken by the Kingdom to make Hajj season a success.

Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Kuwaiti Emir, Baharaini King and Crown Prince, among other leaders of the Gulf nations congratulated the Saudi leadership for making this year’s Hajj a success amid ongoing pandemic crisis.

audi Minister of Health, Dr. Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah had earlier said that the health plan for this year’s Hajj 1442 AH was a success as the pilgrimage was free from coronavirus and other epidemic diseases.

In a statement on Thursday, he said that the Ministry of Health and Saudi Red Crescent Authority had put in place an integrated system of health facilities in the holy sites, including hospitals, health centres and highly equipped ambulances supervised by medical, technical and administrative teams of qualified and trained staff.

All government entities involved in serving the pilgrims have made great efforts to implement the Hajj health plan to ensure pilgrims’ safety and prevent the spread of any infection among them in light of the coronavirus pandemic, Al-Rabiah added.

The minister expressed his gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and the Crown Prince for their keenness to provide all means and capabilities to serve pilgrims and facilitate their performance of Hajj rituals in a comfortable and safe atmosphere.

Dr. Al-Rabiah stressed that early efforts and precautionary measures in dealing with the health situation during this year’s Hajj season, which necessitated limiting the number of pilgrims to 60,000 who completed the vaccination against COVID-19, have contributed to the success of the health plan that ensured the safety of pilgrims.

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-Top News Arab News Saudi Arabia

Saudi uses latest tech to control Covid during Haj

The Haj smart card records its holder’s personal, medical and residential information….reports Asian Lite News

 The Saudi government is employing the latest information technologies to help control the spread of Covid-19 during this year’s Haj season.

The Ministry of Haj and Umrah said on Sunday that it launched the “Haj smart cards” to facilitate the journey of pilgrims, reports Xinhua news agency.

The cards, equipped with near field communication (NFC) technologies, can be scanned by self-service machines at the holy sites to feed fast and accurate information to the organisers.

The Haj smart card records its holder’s personal, medical and residential information.

It can also help the pilgrims to find locations and gain access to various venues.

Moreover, the kingdom also distributed about 5,000 smart bracelets for pilgrims, which are not only capable of storing the pilgrims’ personal information, but also monitoring their health conditions such as blood oxygen levels, heart rate, and possible exposure to the infectious virus.

It is the second year in a row, in which Saudi Arabia is organising the annual pilgrimage without foreign worshippers as part of precautionary measures against the ongoing pandemic.

About 60,000 Muslims, selected by the authorities from 558,000 registered ones, will take part in the 2021 Haj season, while the number was 2.5 million in 2019.

More than 13 million worshippers wearing masks and observing physical distancing rules have visited the mosques since the seven-month prayer and Umrah suspension was lifted last October.

Last week, Saudi Arabia had launched an awareness campaign for Hajj and Umrah pilgrims.

It focused on educating the pilgrims about the precautionary instructions that must be adhered to before entering Makkah to ensure a healthy environment for performing the rituals of Hajj during this unprecedented situation.

The ministry’s deployment of electronic systems for various Hajj procedures, including a Hajj smart card “Shayir” helps control the entry of pilgrims to camps in the holy sites and various facilities and grouping them to the Jamarat facility, Deputy Minister of Hajj, Dr. Abdulfattah bin Suleiman Mashat said.

The campaign has educated the pilgrims about the benefits of the unified card for all pilgrims, which contains their personal, medical and residential information. This information contributes to better coordination of the Hajj procedures, starting with issuing the Hajj permit and managing the entry of pilgrims to Makkah and the holy sites, and performance of Hajj rituals

It also helps guiding and organising the pilgrims in the camps of the holy sites, the mount of Arafat, the stoning of the Jamarat, the Ifadah Tawaf, along with other rituals.

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Arab News Saudi Arabia

OIC welcomes Saudi decision to hold Hajj this year

The Kingdom successfully managed the annual Hajj pilgrimage last year without compromising on the pilgrims’ safety and health amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic…reports Asian Lite News

The secretary-general of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Dr. Yousef Al-Othaimeen, lauded the Saudi Arabia’s decision to hold this year’s Hajj amid strict COVID-19 safety measures to ensure pilgrims’ safety.

Al-Othaimeen praised the Kingdom’s leadership for their efforts to serve the pilgrims, the Arab News reported.

He said Saudi Arabia attaches great importance to the health and safety of pilgrims and visitors to the two holy mosques, it was reported.

The Kingdom successfully managed the annual Hajj pilgrimage last year without compromising on the pilgrims’ safety and health amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

The OIC chief lauded the Saudi authorities for utilizing all resources to serve pilgrims.

It was on Sunday, Saudi Arabia had announced its plan to hold this year’s Haj pilgrimage under Covid safety measures that will ensure preserving the health and safety of the worshippers.

The health authorities in the Kingdom continue to assess conditions and take all measures to protect the health and well-being of the public, state media quoted the Ministry of Haj and Umrah as saying on Sunday.

It added that organisation details of the Haj season will be announced later, Xinhua news agency reported.

The Ministry did not mention whether foreign pilgrims will be allowed to attend this season.

The Kingdom had organised an exceptional Haj season last year with a limited number of pilgrims as part of precautionary measures against the spread of Covid-19.

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