Indonesian pilgrims prepare to depart from Juanda International Airport in Surabaya on June 4, 2022, for the first time since the absence of the pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia for several years during the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. - AFP
JAKARTA, June 5 (Bernama): Three haj pilgrim candidates bound for the Holy Land in Saudi Arabia have tested positive for Covid-19, according to Indonesia’s Haj Health Centre.
Two haj pilgrim candidates in Jakarta and one in Surabaya had tested positive during the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.
Head of the centre, Budi Sylvana said all haj pilgrim candidates must undergo PCR swab before entering their respective Haj dormitories on Friday.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday (June 4) evening, he said the three pilgrim candidates will undergo quarantine for five days and must give negative results on day four and five before authority reschedule their flights.
They are supposed to be in the first batch, consisting 2,776 pilgrims from Padang, Jakarta, Bekasi, Solo and Surabaya who left for the Holy Land this morning.
Indonesia is the country with the highest hajj quota in the world, with 100,051 candidates allowed to perform the Haj pilgrimage this year, after a two-year hiatus because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Earlier on Saturday, Saudi Arabia had welcomed its first batch of hajj pilgrims since before the coronavirus pandemic, which prompted authorities to sharply restrict the annual ritual.
A group from Indonesia landed in the city of Medina and was set to travel south to the holy city of Mecca in the coming weeks to prepare for the hajj next month, state media reported.
"Today we received the first group of this year's pilgrims from Indonesia, and the flights will continue from Malaysia and India," Mohammed al-Bijawi of the country's Hajj Ministry told the state-run Al-Ekhbariya channel.
"Today we are happy to receive the guests of God from outside the kingdom, after a two-year interruption due to the pandemic," he added, describing Saudi Arabia as "fully prepared" to accommodate them.
One of the five pillars of Islam, the hajj must be undertaken by all Muslims who have the means at least once in their lives.
Usually one of the world's largest religious gatherings, about 2.5 million people participated in 2019.
But after the onset of the pandemic in 2020, Saudi authorities announced they would only let 1,000 pilgrims take part.
The following year, they increased the total to 60,000 fully vaccinated Saudi citizens and residents chosen through a lottery. - Bernama
