Saudi Arabia said on Saturday it would gradually receive Umrah pilgrimage requests from abroad starting August. 9, with a capacity that would go from 60,000 pilgrims to 2 million pilgrims per month, the state-local news agency reported early on Sunday.

An official in the Hajj and Umrah Ministry said pilgrims will have to present an authorized COVID-19 vaccination certificate in their Umrah request. Saudi Arabia has halted travel to or transit at countries recording a surge in Covid-19 cases or were new variants have spread. 

The banned countries include India, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, Iran, Turkey, Armenia, Ethiopia, Somalia, Congo, Afghanistan, Venezuela and Belarus. Let us tell you that Saudi Arabia recorded 1,379 new Covid-19 cases Friday, taking its overall tally since the outbreak of the pandemic in January last year to 5,20,774, a local media reported.

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