Riyadh, June 23: Saudi Arabia on Tuesday announced a cap of 1,000 Pilgrims to Hajj this year in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic. According to a tweet by news agency AFP, the Kingdom will allow around 1,000 pilgrims to perform Hajj this year. Saudi has banned international visitors from making the Islamic pilgrimage in 2020 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. On Monday, an announcement on state media stated that only limited number of people currently living in the kingdom may take part in Hajj 2020. The announcement comes as Saudi Arabia reported a total of 1,61,005 COVID-19 cases. So far, the death toll in the Kingdom stands at 1,307.

"In light of the persistence of this pandemic, the severity of the outbreak of infection by gatherings... It was decided to establish a pilgrimage this year 2020 with very limited numbers for those of different nationalities within the Kingdom," the Ministry of Pilgrimage said in a statement on Monday. Haj 2020 Update: Pilgrims From India Will Not Be Sent to Saudi Arabia for Haj 2020, Says Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

Here's the tweet:

Reports inform that in 2019, nearly 2.5 million Muslims performed the Haj, including more than 600,000 Saudis. Hajj, the annual pilgrimage, is one of the five pillars of Islam, which every Muslim must perform at least once if his or her physical and economic state allow. Saudi will incur huge losses this year as the Haj represents an important source of income. The Hajj pilgrimage  usually generates between $5.3 billion and $6.9 billion for the local economy, according to Mecca's chamber of commerce.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 23, 2020 03:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).