Saudi Arabia on Wednesday suspended the year-round "umrah" pilgrimage to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina over coronavirus fears, the interior ministry said.

File photo: CGTN

The Gulf state has decided "to suspend umrah temporarily for citizens and residents in the kingdom", the ministry said in a statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

The decision comes after Saudi Arabia last week suspended visas for the pilgrimage and barred citizens from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council from entering two of Islam's holiest cities.