Saudi Arabia's Haj Ministry denied any cancellation of Umrah reservations in the wake of the Mers virus attacks in the kingdom, an official was quoted as saying.

Abdullah Marghalani, undersecretary at the Haj Ministry, said in an Arab News report that the Saudi Health Ministry is the only official body responsible for issuing health advice for the pilgrimage. “We do not take into account rumours circulating on social networking sites,” he said.

The Health Ministry has reassured residents that the virus has not reached an epidemic stage, he said. This is why the Haj Ministry has not taken precautionary measures so far, he added in the report.

The virus has not affected Umrah pilgrims so far, nor has it had any effect on applications for the Haj and Umrah pilgrimages, he said.

There have been 3.8 million Umrah pilgrims since the beginning of this season, a 30 percent increase from the 2.5 million pilgrims performing Umrah this time last year, the report quoted Marghalani as saying.