Hajj and Umrah Mass Gatherings and COVID-19 Infection

Van-Thuan Hoang; Philippe Gautret; Ziad A Memish; Jaffar A Al-Tawfiq

doi:10.1007/s40475-020-00218-x

Hajj and Umrah Mass Gatherings and COVID-19 Infection

Curr Trop Med Rep. 2020;7(4):133-140. doi: 10.1007/s40475-020-00218-x. Epub 2020 Nov 3.

Authors

Van-Thuan Hoang^{1

2

3}, Philippe Gautret^{1

2}, Ziad A Memish^{4

5

6}, Jaffar A Al-Tawfiq^{7

8

9}

Affiliations

¹ Aix Marseille University, IRD, AP-HM, SSA, VITROME, Marseille, France.
² IHU-Méditerranée Infection, Marseille, France.
³ Thai Binh University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Thai Binh, Vietnam.
⁴ Director Research and Innovation Center, King Saud Medical City, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁵ Al-Faisal University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
⁶ Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, GA USA.
⁷ Specialty Internal Medicine and Quality Division, Dhahran Health Center, Johns Hopkins Aramco Healthcare, P.O. Box 76, Room A-428-2, Building 61, Dhahran, 31311 Saudi Arabia.
⁸ Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN USA.
⁹ Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD USA.

Abstract

Purpose of review: We discuss the risk of COVID-19 in religious mass gathering events including Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages.

Recent findings: The risk of transmission of respiratory viruses including COVID-19 is particularly high due to the overcrowding conditions at the Hajj and Umrah. The profile of the Hajj pilgrims who tend to be older and with multiple comorbidities corresponds to that of individuals at risk for severe COVID-19. In order to avoid a COVID-19 outbreak with potential spreading to many countries through returning pilgrims, Saudi Arabia suspended the Umrah, and access to the 2020 Hajj was very limited.

Summary: A clear relation between early suspension of religious mass gatherings and lower occurrence of COVID-19 transmission in countries that took such measures promptly was noticed. There are lessons to national and international health organizations for other mass gatherings in the context of the pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; Hajj; MERS-CoV; Mass gathering; Pilgrimage; SARS-CoV-2; Umrah.

Publication types

Review