JAKARTA - The Director General of Hajj and Umrah Organizers at the Ministry of Religion, Hilman Latief, said that from January 8 to April 2022, around 118,000 people had gone for Umrah to the Holy Land.
"So far, since January we have had 118,000 people who went to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah," Hilman said in an online discussion that was followed from Jakarta, reported by Antara, Wednesday, April 20.
Hilman explained that the implementation of Umrah this year is full of dynamics, because the implementation is still in an atmosphere of the COVID-19 pandemic, so caution is needed.
At the beginning of Umrah, he said, the Saudi Arabian government imposed strict rules for foreign pilgrims, such as only receiving four types of vaccines, quarantine in third countries before entering Saudi, to PCR regulations.
The Ministry of Religion then responded by implementing the One Gate Policy scheme to suppress all forms of potential transmission of COVID-19. This scheme has also received attention from the congregation, there are those who support it, not a few who oppose it.
"At that time it was appreciated by many parties, but also quite a lot was opposed by many parties, especially the performers of the Umrah pilgrims who at that time asked for relief in the health protocol," said Hilman.
As the case of COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia slowed, the local authorities finally revoked a number of health protocol rules, such as no need for quarantine and PCR, only required full dose vaccinations of the vaccines applicable in Saudi. -19 after returning from Saudi Arabia in the early days of departure. Even the positive rate in January reached 47.22 percent and in March the figure fell only about 0.67 percent were exposed.
"We are grateful that all the dynamics we face, the pressures we face, and even the urge to stop sending Umrah pilgrims are also not small. Thank God we can get through," he said.
Interestingly, he said, when the Saudi government relaxed a number of health protocol rules, such as not being required to wear masks in open places and lifting distance restrictions, Indonesian Umrah pilgrims were the most disciplined in implementing these.
"The fact is that people there are more free. What attracts Indonesians who are quite disciplined because we really emphasized that at that time, they still wore masks there," he said.
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