In a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus, Saudi Arabia will not permit children aged below 15 to enter the Prophet's Mosque (Al-Masjid an-Nabawi) or its courtyard this Ramadan, authorities said.
The Masjid an-Nabawi General Presidency for the Affairs has formulated a Ramadan action plan that includes reducing the time of Tarawih (special night) prayer to half, closing the mosque within 30 minutes after tarawih prayers and not granting permission for i'tikaaf, according to Arab News. I'tikaaf is a supplementary Islamic practice of spending one or more days for worshipping in a mosque.
Authorities forbids against sharing, distribution meals at the mosque's courtyards or any sort of gatherings will not be allowed. Only dates and water are allowed for iftar in the mosque.
To exit from the mosque, worshippers are advised to make use of the national parking app Mawqif.
The Saudi Health Ministry in had announced earlier that this year's Hajj pilgrimage is limited to only Covid19 vaccinated pilgrims.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health has recorded 728 new cases on Friday, making total number of current covid cases in the Kingdom to 391,325.