Social distancing ends at Masjid Al Haram and Masjid An Nabawi after 1.5 years

Riyadh: After one and a half years of COVID-19 restrictions, the worshippers at the Grand Mosque in Makkah and Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah Munawarra in Saudi Arabia have been offered Fajr (dawn) prayer without social distancing from Sunday.

The imams of  Masjid Al Haram and Masjid An Nabawi on Sunday instruct worshipers to “straighten the rows and close the gaps.”

Pictures and footage of Fajr prayer on social media showed people praying side by side, in straight rows.

Social distancing stickers were removed after Isha prayers on Saturday.

“This is in line with the decision to ease precautionary measures and to allow pilgrims and visitors to the Grand Mosque at full capacity,”Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

Speaking to Siasat.com, Mohammed Umair Ali Khan Indian ex-pat said, “During the peak of COVID-19 pandemic, Saudi



Arabia has done a wonderful job of caring for its people, whether they are residents or outsiders. Hopefully, the world will return to normalcy soon. “

The ministry of interior on October 15 ordered the complete opening of the Makkah and Madinah Mosque and relaxed the health precautions.

Saudi Arabia introduced sweeping new measures to ease COVID-19 restrictions in the country in light of a fall in the number of reported cases in the country.

Wearing of masks is no longer mandatory in open places, except for the excluded places, while continuing to be mandatory in closed areas.

Saudi Arabia also announced that fully vaccinated sports viewers will be allowed to attend events at all stadiums and other sports facilities from Sunday, reported SPA.

So far, more than 20.6 million of the country’s 34.8 million population have been vaccinated.