The authorities in Lomé will carry out “systematic screening for Covid-19” among all Togolese pilgrims returning from Mecca, after the death of many faithful during the annual hajj in this holy place of Islam.
In addition to a screening test, pilgrims returning to Togo will have to “limit contacts, wear masks, wash their hands regularly, avoid gatherings for 10 days following their return,” the Togolese government detailed in a press release on Friday.
Some 1.8 million pilgrims travelled to Saudi Arabia this year for the annual major pilgrimage and Saudi authorities reporteda toll of 1,300 deaths due toaccording to them, to the heat.
The rituals took place under very high temperatures, which reached 51.8 degrees Celsius at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Islam’s holiest city in western Saudi Arabia. But some observers believe that a certain number of these deaths are caused by a respiratory syndrome disease such as Covid-19.
At the start of the week, the Senegalese authorities spoke of “a respiratory epidemic”. They implemented voluntary Covid-19 screening tests and reimposed the wearing of masks at the international airport upon the arrival of pilgrims.
“Deaths were recorded during the 2024 hajj, some of them in a context of respiratory distress and dehydration,” the Togolese authorities said in their statement. “Cases of Covid-19 and other respiratory diseases have been detected among pilgrims in the sub-region returning to their country,” they added.
With a population of nearly 8 million, 47% of whom are Christian, 33% animist and 18% Muslim, the small West African country sent some 2,500 pilgrims for the traditional hajj to Mecca this year.
The pilgrims, who left at the beginning of June, must return to Togo between Saturday and July 3 thanks to flights specially chartered by the government.
