- Saudi Arabia, as part of its first phase of reopening, started to allow a maximum number of 6,000 pilgrims – for now only Saudi citizens and residents – to enter the Grand Mosque in Mecca for a maximum duration of three hours.
- The Middle East Studies Association convened a panel titled “Middle East Studies and the Academy in the Time of Covid-19,” to discuss the pandemic’s impact on the academe, bringing together panelists Zachary Lockman (NYU), Seteney Shami (Arab Council of Social Science, founding director), Anthony Alessandrini (Kingsborough Community College; CUNY Graduate Center), and Yulia Gilich (PhD candidate, UC Santa Cruz).