This mosque in Mecca (west), Islam’s main holy site, was home to millions of Muslims before the disease spread in late 2019.
But the epidemic forced the imposition of access restrictions that were gradually relaxed in recent months, especially for vaccinated pilgrims.
Hereinafter “The Great Mosque can be used to its maximum capacity, with the obligation that employees and visitors wear a mask at all times”announced the Interior Ministry in a statement published by the official press agency SPA.
The decision applies from Sunday to people fully vaccinated against the coronavirus, he said.
Public places, such as transportation, restaurants or cinemas, will also be able to function at full capacity across the country, and wearing the mask outdoors is no longer mandatory, according to the statement.
The signs on the ground that marked the distance to be respected in and around the Great Mosque, built around the Kaaba, have been removed.
This black cubic structure to which Muslims around the world turn to pray during the hajj, the great annual pilgrimage, remains inaccessible.
In normal times, the hach and the umrah (small pilgrimage) move about 12,000 million dollars (10,200 million euros) per year in Saudi Arabia, which tries to diversify its economy, very dependent on oil.
Saudi Arabia has officially registered almost 548,000 cases of infection, of which 8,760 fatal.
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