Covid-19 threatens Everest climbing comeback

More than 30 sick climbers have been evacuated from the foot of Mount Everest, raising fears that coronavirus may scupper a hoped-for bumper season on the world’s highest mountain.

Nepal’s tourism industry suffered a devastating blow last year when the pandemic prompted a complete shutdown of its summits, costing millions in lost revenue.

This year authorities have eased quarantine rules in an effort to lure back foreign adventurers and have issued climbing permits to more than 400 people, a new record.

An Everest permit alone costs $11,000 and climbers pay upward of $40,000 for an expedition.

But the warmer weather that ushers in safer conditions for scaling Nepal’s dangerous, snow-capped peaks has coincided with a deadly second wave of Covid-19 infections, with active cases in the country rising six-fold in the last two weeks.

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Norwegian climber Erlend Ness spent two nights sleeping in his tent at base camp last month, unsure of what was making him ill.

“I was evacuated to Kathmandu and was tested. My result was positive for Covid,” he told AFP, becoming the first climber with an Everest permit to confirm his infection.

“I think I’m not the only one… Every team at the base camp knows the risk of Covid is there and they have to be careful, they should be careful,” he said.

Also Read – Nepali sherpa scales Mt Everest record 25 times

Fellow climber Gina Marie Han-Lee decided to abandon her expedition last week over fears the disease was spreading around base camp.

“I have taken a helicopter out of EBC (Everest base camp) back to Kathmandu after 1 day. The Covid situation at EBC is a total shitstorm. I had no clue what I was flying into,” the US citizen wrote on her Facebook page on April 29.

“It was a heartbreaking decision but I’m putting my health first. Covid at a high altitude does not sound like something I want to play with.”

‘We don’t have tests here’ 

Officials at a health clinic catering to the climbers say more than 30 people have been flown off the camp in recent weeks.

At least two have tested positive after returning to the capital Kathmandu.

But the government has yet to confirm a single Covid-19 case on Everest.

India’s southern state of Tamil Nadu announced new lockdown measures on Saturday as officials reported a nationwide record number of single-day Covid-19 deaths as cases continue to surge.

India’s health ministry reported 4,187 fatalities over the past 24 hours, taking the overall death toll to just under 240,000.Covid-19

Cases rose by 401,078, increasing the total since the start of the pandemic to 21.9 million.

Officials in Tamil Nadu said the state-wide lockdown would begin on Monday and last until May 24. Shops and other businesses will be allowed to open on Saturday and Sunday to give residents time to prepare for the sweeping shutdown.Covid-19

Neighbouring Karnataka, home to India’s tech capital Bengaluru, announced late on Friday it was extending movement restrictions, also until May 24. Covid-19