Saudi to allow around 1,000 pilgrims to perform Hajj

Saudi Arabia will allow around 1,000 pilgrims residing in the kingdom to perform the Hajj this year, a minister said on Tuesday, after it announced the ritual would be scaled back due to coronavirus.

"The number of pilgrims will be around 1,000, maybe less, maybe a little more," Hajj Minister Mohammad Benten told reporters. 

"The number won't be in tens or hundreds of thousands this year," he added.