• KSA reports 14 more COVID-19-related deaths, taking the overall toll to 7,947

Arab News

JEDDAH: The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah said that pilgrims will be received on July 17 and 18 in four centers, before being transported to the Grand Mosque by buses to perform the arrival tawaf before heading to the holy sites.

Permits were issued to nationals from 150 countries. Priority was given to those who had not performed Hajj before, and certain age groups. The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah also called on all qualified people who were issued Hajj permits this year to visit the nearest coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine center to take their second dose without booking a prior appointment, and to adhere to preventive and precautionary measures.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia reported 14 more COVID-19-related deaths on Friday, taking the overall toll to 7,947.

There were 1,133 new cases, meaning that 498,906 people in the country have now contracted the disease. A total of 11,250 cases remained active, of which 1,378 patients are in critical condition.

Of the new cases, 328 were in Riyadh, 245 in Makkah, 206 in the Eastern Province, and 68 in Madinah. In addition, the ministry said 1,582 patients had recovered from the disease, increasing the total number of recoveries in the Kingdom to 479,709.

Saudi Arabia had so far conducted 22,805,670 polymerase chain reaction tests. Meanwhile, 19,327,697 people have received a jab against COVID-19, including 1,392,592 who are elderly.

Testing hubs and treatment centers set up throughout the country have dealt with hundreds of thousands of people since the COVID-19 outbreak.