Pilgrims, wearing face masks and moving in small groups after days in isolation, began arriving at Islam's holiest site in Mecca on Wednesday for the start of a historically unique and scaled-down hajj experience reshaped by the coronavirus pandemic.

Rather than standing and praying shoulder-to-shoulder in a sea of people from different walks of life, pilgrims this year are standing apart.

They are moving in small groups of 20 to limit exposure and the potential transmission of the coronavirus.

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