Mecca (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Hajj Organizing Committee (PPIH) in Saudi Arabia has readied hotels as isolation facilities for Indonesian Hajj pilgrims, who had contracted COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia and experienced no symptoms.

The hotels that have been readied can accommodate around one thousand COVID-19-infected pilgrims.

"This year, for the first time, we provide hotels for isolation that will be utilized if there are COVID-19-positive pilgrims in Mecca and Medina. The capacity readied is one percent of the total number of pilgrims," Head of the Integrated Hajj Information and Computerization System at the Ministry of Religious Affairs Hasan Affandi stated in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on Friday.

In addition to providing isolation hotels, he affirmed that the Indonesian government is preparing a health insurance scheme for Hajj pilgrims infected with COVID-19 and in need of medical treatment in hospitals.

Nevertheless, Affandi is optimistic that all Indonesian Hajj pilgrims would be in good health until they returned to Indonesia.

Earlier, Speaker of the House of Representatives (DPR) Puan Maharani had urged the government to guarantee the availability of health services for Indonesian Hajj pilgrims following the report of an uptick in COVID-19 cases in Saudi Arabia.

Maharani conveyed her request following reports from the Health Ministries of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates regarding a spike in COVID-19 cases. As many as 1,029 cases were reported as of Wednesday (June 8), and the maximum number of cases were recorded in Riyadh.

This year, Saudi Arabia has allowed one million pilgrims from various countries to perform Hajj pilgrimage. Indonesia has been allotted a quota of 100,051 people for the pilgrimage.

Although it has given permission for foreign pilgrims to perform Hajj, Saudi Arabia has laid down two conditions for them this year. First, pilgrims must not be older than 65 years and must have received the full dose of any COVID-19 vaccine approved by the Saudi Health Ministry.

Second, pilgrims traveling from abroad must have a certificate showing a negative PCR result, with the test taken no more than 72 hours prior to departure.

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Translator: Desi Purnamawati, Raka Adji
Editor: Sri Haryati
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