Saudi Arabia on Thursday emptied Islam’s holiest site, the granite Kaaba at Mecca’s Grand Mosque of the Muslim world for sterilisation over fears of the Covid-19 coronavirus. 

The unprecedented shutdown state media said will last while the year-round umrah pilgrimage is suspended.

The sacred site is usually thronged with worshippers from every corner, but aerial photos realised yesterday show it deserted.

The kingdom halted the pilgrimage for its own citizens and residents on Wednesday, on top of restrictions announced last week on foreign pilgrims to stop the disease from spreading.

State television relayed images of an empty white-tiled area surrounding the Kaaba – a large black cube structure inside Makkah’s Grand Mosque – which is usually packed with tens of thousands of pilgrims.

The Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque in the city of Madinah will be closed an hour after the evening “Isha” prayer and will reopen an hour before the dawn “Fajr” prayer to allow cleaning and sterilisation, the official added.