Saudi Arabia made the historic decision to suspend travel to Islam’s holiest sites in Mecca and Medina as fears of a global coronavirus pandemic loom large.
The move was announced on Thursday, and it affects the millions of Muslims outside the country who travel to Mecca each year for the Umrah pilgrimage. There are also concerns that the virus, officially known as the COVID-19 virus, could affect the annual 10-day hajj, which also attracts millions of people a year.
Additionally, Saudia Arabia, which has not reported a confirmed case of the infection, suspended tourist visas from countries affected with outbreaks of the virus. Although it is unclear which specific countries would be targeted, the illness has ballooned in Italy, South Korea, Iran, Kuwait, Bahrain, and in China, where the virus first originated.
The statement from the Saudi Foreign Ministry said, “These measures are temporary and subject to continuous evaluation by the relevant authorities.”
“This move by Saudi Arabia is unprecedented,” Ghanem Nuseibeh, founder of the risk consult group Cornerstone Global Associates, told Agence France-Presse. “The concern for Saudi authorities would be Ramadan, which starts at the end of April, and hajj afterwards, should the coronavirus become a pandemic.”
Iran has reported 245 cases and 26 deaths of the flu-like virus, which has also infected one of the country’s vice presidents and its deputy health minister. In neighboring Kuwait, 45 people have been diagnosed, and the island nation of Bahrain has 33 confirmed infections.
In Europe, an outbreak in Italy has caused 528 cases with 14 deaths, and Germany has had more than two dozen infections.
Globally, there have been more than 82,500 cases and 2,810 deaths, most of which are in mainland China. Fears of a worldwide pandemic have sent stocks plummeting. The Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly entered correction territory on Thursday, dropping more than 760 points. The decline added to earlier losses this week.
President Trump put Vice President Mike Pence in charge of efforts to coordinate a response to coronavirus in the United States, which has seen 60 cases of the illness, many of which stemmed from a localized outbreak on a cruise ship.
The World Health Organization has declared the COVID-19 virus, which has spread to every continent except Antarctica, a global public health emergency.
