KARACHI: As the countries across the globe have placed lockdowns and restricted public gatherings to avert the spread of Covid-19, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah announced in a statement that Hajj, which is set to begin by the end of July, will be "very limited" in size and restricted only to Saudi residents.

"This decision is taken to ensure Hajj is performed in a safe manner from a public health perspective while observing all preventative measures and the necessary social distancing protocols to protect human beings from the risks associated with this pandemic and in accordance with the teachings of Islam in preserving the lives of human beings," the statement said.

According to Hajj 2020 plan issued by the ministry, only residents of Saudi Arabia would attend Hajj this year, which would lead to limit the number of Hujjaj not to reach tens of thousands.

The Saudi government has also placed a bar on the people above the age of 65 to perform Hajj and all intended pilgrims would go through mandatory testing before going to Hajj.

Moreover the authorities have finalized strict measures to ensure social distancing throughout Hajj besides ensuring daily medical checkups of pilgrims during Hajj. After Hajj, pilgrims will not be allowed to return homes and they will be sent into quarantine.

Nearly 2.5 million people performed Hajj in 2019.

In March, Saudi Arabia asked Muslims to delay finalizing their plans for Hajj until the situation was clear and later the country suspended all visits to Makkah and Madina for the Umrah pilgrimage.

In early June, Indonesia and Malaysia, which send a combined total of about a quarter-million Muslims for Hajj annually, restricted their citizens to travel to Saudi Arabia for this religious obligation this year, due to Covid-19 situation.