Saudi pilgrims perform socially distanced Tawaf in Mecca

Pilgrims arrived in Mecca to perform a socially distanced Tawaf around Kaaba on Saturday (July 17), as part of the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

Saudi Arabia has restricted the Haj to its own citizens and residents for the second year running in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The event will be limited to a maximum of 60,000 participants.

Before the pandemic, some 2.5 million pilgrims used to visit the holiest sites of Islam in Mecca and Medina for the week-long haj, and the year-round umrah pilgrimage, which altogether earned the Kingdom about $12 billion a year, according to government data.