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°C 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.
Earlier this week, Senegalese authorities spoke of a “respiratory-type epidemic.” They implemented voluntary Covid-19 screening tests and reimposed the wearing of masks at the international airport upon 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 percent of whom are Christian, 33 percent animist and 18 percent Muslim, the small West African country has sent some 2,500 pilgrims on the traditional hajj to Mecca this year. The pilgrims, who left in early June, are due to return to Togo between Saturday and July 3 on flights specially chartered by the government.
