MATTA Urges Malaysian Prime Minister to Convince Saudi Government to Relax Umrah Quota

In spite of an increase in the MERS virus cases in Saudi Arabia, the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) has demanded from their Prime Minister to convince the Saudi government in to increase the quota of Umrah visas for Malaysian citizens, reports The Star. Addressing a press meeting, the president of MATTA, HamzahRahmat said that they had recently submitted about 26,000 Umrah applications to Saudi Arabia, but less than 10 percent of them got approved. Hamzah also revealed that when quota system was introduced in Malaysia during last year it was only limited to two months Shaaban and Ramadan.

However, during this year the restriction started a month earlier in Rejab that comes before Shaaban and Ramadan without any prior notice from the Saudi government, said Hamzah. As a result, all the agents who had even submitted online applications long before the deadline failed to get their visas approved by Saudi Arabia, said the MATTA president. He added that this problem could be solved only if Malaysian government intervene in this matter.

That’s not all early restriction has also effected the local Umrah travel agents, as they had already received full payments for lodging and flights. In fact, they had exchanged it different people involve in the process including ground operators in the Kingdom.Ha,azah said that of pilgrims themselves postpones their plan to do Umrah it will not hurt travel agents, but in case of cancellation or rescheduling agents have to bear great loss.

Keeping this point in mind, Hamzah requested the airlines in aid of MATTA members that they should consider waiving cancellation charges and make full refunds to MATTA members. Now it remains to be seen whether Malaysian government will aid travel agents to resolve this problem. However, British Umrah pilgrims will not have to face any of these problems, as no quota system has been introduced for the country.

Thus, if you are planning to perform Umrah during this year then, visit authorized Haj and Umrah travel agent, British Haj Travel Ltd. today and acquire the best services. 

Indonesian Government Makes No Changes in Umrah Trips Despite of Increase in MERS Cases

According to Jakarta Post the Minister forReligious Affairs of Indonesia, Suryadharma Ali has revealed in a recent statement thatin spite of increase in the number ofMiddle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) cases in Saudi Arabia government has no plans to delay or reduce the trips of pilgrims to the holy land. Talking to the media people after the ceremony of the Buddhist Day of Enlightenment in Central Java on Wednesday, May 15, 2014 the minister said that they have not taken any step regarding cancellation or delay of Umrah trips yet. He also said that fatality rate due to MERS still had not reached a high level, as it is between 34 to 35 percent. 

Adding to it, Ali said that this fatality rate is far below than rabies and bird flu rate that touched 85 percent mark at one time. According to Suryadharma, they have made this decision after reviewing the considerations of World Health Organization (WHO) and various other relevant institutions. Given that these institutions have not declared MERS as an ‘extraordinary event’ yet.The Religious Affairs Minister also said that the MERS virus first emerged in the Middle East back in 2012 and between 2012 and 2013 no Indonesian pilgrim was reported to have suffered from this disease. He said the increase in the spread of virus was only escalated during this year.   

However, according to the minister, the government is cautious and is already taking measures to avert the spread of MERS, as he said that do not let the disease spread in the country. As compared to Indonesia, Egypt has recently cancelled 25 percent of its Umrah trips due to increase in the cases of MERS. Still Basil Al-Sisithe chairman of the Economic Chamber of Tourism Companies in Egypt is of the opinion that the number of pilgrims will remain stable during the holy month of Ramadan. If you too are looking to perform Umrah in Saudi Arabia during Ramadan then, acquire the first-rate services of UK’s most prominent travel agency British Hajj TravelLtd.

A Hospital Official Predicts Number of MERS Effected Patients to Increase in Future

Saudi authorities have already warned all the Muslims, who are planning to visit Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah in the coming day, about the deadly and infectious Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) that is once again swiftly spreading among the pilgrims. The latest in this regard came from Jakarta Post, which has unveiled that an official of Adam Malik Hospital in Medan has predicted that the number of MERS suspected patients are likely to increase in the coming days. According to him the reason behind it is that a lot of people are still going to the Kingdom to perform Umrah. The prediction came from none other than LuhurSoeroso himself, who is the Head of the Lung Department of Adam Malik Hospital. 

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Commenting on the fatal virus on last Sunday, Soeroso said that he has no idea when this deadly virus will come to an end, as people are still going to perform minor pilgrimage and it will continue until Haj. Shedding light on his prediction regarding MERS, Luhur said that his forecast was not only based on on-going Umrah traveling,but it is also based on latest suspected MERS cases that various hospitals in the country have recently reported. He also unveiled that nearly every day a new patient, who is suspected of MERS virus is coming to their hospital. In fact, only on Sunday eight patients from different regions of North Sumatra received the treatment of MERS in the hospital.     

Last Saturday a 26-year old male was admitted in the Adam Malik Hospital around 11:00pm, who had very high temperature and also suffering from severe cough. The patient had arrived from Saudi Arabia on the very same day he was admitted to the hospital.SairiSaragih, spokesperson for hospital said that four out of eight suspected patients of MERS were discharged after their results came negative or found to have just ordinary influenza. According to Saragih, SHN, a patient is the only case that was suspected to have MERS, but he was discharged as the test reports came negative. 

Talking about the remaining four patients Sairi said that doctors had already taken their samples of throat and nasal swabs, which are being sent to a laboratory in Jakarta. The spokesperson added that they are waiting for their results, if they came negative, the patients will be allowed to go to their homes.Though, Adam Malik hospital has limited facilities when it comes to treating MERS suspected patients, but Sairi said that they are geared up to receive such patients. 

Currently the hospital has only 11 isolation rooms, where MERS suspected patients can be treated, but they have already system in place if the number of such cases increases, said Sairi. On the other hand, the administration of Riau Health Agency has made it known that they have isolated three suspected-MERS patients, who came from the Kingdom at the start of this month are having respiratory problem and high fever.