Grand Mosque set to welcome 70,000 Umrah pilgrims daily
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Makkah: The General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques has finished all arrangements to receive Umrah pilgrims in the wake of expanding the capacity to 70,000 every day.
The arrangements were made under the oversight of sheikh Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz Al-Sudais, the head of the General Presidency for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques.
The first group of fully-vaccinated foreign Umrah pilgrims arrived in Saudi Arabia on Aug. 15 after a temporary COVID-19 travel ban was lifted.
The official spokesman for the general presidency, Hani bin Hosni Haidar informed that all Umrah pilgrims and worshippers will have to abide by precautionary measures and intensified sterilization.
Additional precautionary measures taken by the presidency considering the existing pandemic situation include the development of thermal cameras and visual sorting operations. Also, the sterilization process will utilize 11 robots that work with AI, 20 bio-care devices with dry steam, and 500 sterilization pumps.
The presidency will also provide 500 electronic soap dispensers and 250 fans distributed throughout the Grand Mosque's courtyards.
Haidar said the presidency also increased the production capacity of Zamzam water to more than 300,000 bottles per day, which will be distributed to Umrah pilgrims and worshippers.
Also, Qur'anic sessions and religious lessons delivered by Grand Mosque scholars will resume in accordance with all precautionary and preemptive measures.
The presidency will provide translation services to pilgrims and visitors in English, Turkish, Urdu, Persian, French, Russian, Malay, Bengali, Chinese, and Hausa, Haidar added.