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.
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.
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 case on Everest.
"Some evacuated may have tested positive in Kathmandu. They did not test at the base camp, so we cannot be sure where they got infected," said Nepal's tourism department chief Rudra Singh Tamang.
Health professionals at the camp say they do not have the capacity to test for the disease.
"We have permission to only work as a clinic so we don't have tests here. We have made requests but nothing has happened yet," a doctor there said.
More than a thousand people are typically camped at the bustling tent city at the foot of Everest, including foreign climbers and the teams of Nepali guides that escort them to the peak.
But the usual reverie and loud communal parties are absent this year after expedition groups were asked to keep to themselves and avoid socialising with others.
Customary religious ceremonies held before an ascent to pray for a safe expedition have also been turned into quiet and private affairs.
"We are taking all precautions possible to make sure that there are no infections," said Tashi Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks, the largest climbing agency at Everest.
"We are not visiting other tents, and even groups within the camps are not mixing."
'We are very scared'
More than 400 people in Nepal have died over the last two weeks after contracting COVID.
The country's health system has been overwhelmed by the sudden spike, with hospitals filling fast and relatives of patients scrambling for medicine and intensive care beds.
Climbers on peaks elsewhere in the country have also run into problems.
An expedition on Dhaulagiri, the seventh highest mountain in the world, is in limbo after at least three members tested positive for COVID this week.
Nine are being evacuated and others are being tested, the head of their expedition said.
Breathing is already difficult at high altitudes so any coronavirus outbreak among climbing groups could pose severe health risks.
Evacuating ill climbers from the remote peaks poses a major logistical challenge.
"We are very scared, there are many rumours and we don't know what is really going on," said Harshvardhan Joshi, an Indian climber hoping to summit Everest.
"What if someone shows symptoms after reaching a higher camp?"
ETX Studio
Sat May 08 2021
An expedition base camp staff wearing a facemask walks around Everest base camp, some 140 Km northeast of Kathmandu. - ETXStudiopic
Kerajaan teliti kaedah baharu lantikan tetap, pastikan kewangan negara lebih mampan
Kerajaan sedang meneliti kaedah baharu lantikan tetap bagi memastikan pengurusan kewangan negara yang lebih mampan.
PDRM gerak unit skuba forensik, K9 cari telefon, rantai Nur Farah Kartini hari ini
Proses mencari bahan bukti akan dimulakan sekitar jam 9 pagi di kawasan parit berhampiran ladang kelapa sawit berkenaan.
Bangkai pesawat MH17 tanpa sayap imbau kekejaman tragedi menyayat hati
Keadaan serpihan pesawat MH17 Malaysia Airlines (MAS) yang cuba dibina semula tanpa sayap, tayar, ekor dan tempat duduk penumpang cukup menggerunkan sekali gus mengingatkan pada kekejaman yang meragut
VOP akan diselesaikan dalam tempoh sebulan - Ahmad
Pelaksanaan Syarat Perubahan Harga (VOP) susulan penyasaran subsidi diesel dijangka diselesaikan dalam tempoh sebulan lagi, kata Timbalan Menteri Kerja Raya Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan.
Industri minyak sawit disaran guna semula sisa untuk bahan api penerbangan mampan - Liew
Industri minyak sawit perlu mengkaji penggunaan semula sisa sebagai stok suapan penting untuk bahan api penerbangan mampan (SAF), di luar penggunaan tradisional minyak sawit.
SDG: UTP lahir pelajar berkemahiran, tinggi tanggungjawab sosial
UTP berhasrat mendidik pelajar bukan sahaja untuk mahir dalam aspek teknikal tetapi juga untuk menjadi warganegara yang bertanggungjawab.
MAA semak semula unjuran jualan kenderaan 2024 kepada 765,000 unit
Persatuan Automotif Malaysia (MAA) telah menyemak semula unjuran jualan kenderaan bermotor baharu bagi 2024 kepada 765,000 unit daripada anggaran sebelumnya sebanyak 740,000 unit.
RUU 355: Pindaan perlu untuk praktikaliti, keadilan
Apa sahaja pindaan terhadap akta itu perlu berjalan selari dengan persediaan mereka yang bertanggungjawab melaksanakannya.
Rasionalisasi RON95 dijangka beri impak lebih besar kepada PKS - SAMENTA
SAMENTA menjangkakan rasionalisasi RON95 akan memberi impak yang lebih besar kepada perusahaan kecil dan sederhana (PKS) berbanding pelarasan subsidi diesel.
Malaysia sasar pengeluaran 40 peratus sektor akuakultur menjelang 2030
Malaysia menyasarkan pengeluaran 40 peratus hasil sektor akuakultur menjelang 2030 dalam usaha membantu mengimbangi keperluan perikanan negara.
Allahyarham Awang Askandar dikurniakan anugerah khas sambutan Maulidur Rasul
Bekas Pengarah Angkatan Pertahanan Awam Malaysia (APM) Kedah Allahyarham Left Kol (PA) Awang Askandar Ampuan Yaacub dikurniakan Anugerah Khas sempena Majlis Sambutan Maulidur Rasul.
Awang Askandar berhasrat tubuh skuad ekstrem bantu negara dilanda bencana
Allahyarham Leftenan Kolonel Awang Askandar Ampuan Yaacub turut menzahirkan hasrat tersebut bagi membantu negara seperti Turkiye yang dilanda gempa bumi.
Tragedi Everest: Jenazah Awang Askandar selamat tiba di KKIA
Jenazah akan dibawa ke rumah keluarganya di Kampung Benoni Papar sebelum disolatkan di Masjid Jamek As Salam Benoni dan seterusnya dikebumikan di tanah perkuburan Islam Kampung Benoni.
Jenazah Awang Askandar selamat tiba di KLIA
Jenazah akan dibawa ke Kota Kinabalu dengan penerbangan MH2646 pukul 11.35 pagi dan dijangka tiba pada 2.15 petang.
Everest: Jenazah Awang Askandar selamat tiba di T.U Teaching Hospital, Kathmandu
Ketibaan jenazah disambut Kuasa Usaha Sementara Kedutaan Besar Malaysia di Kathmandu Mohd Fadzle Abu Hasan bagi membantu melancarkan proses pengurusan jenazah.
Everest: Jenazah Awang Askandar dijangka tiba Jumaat ini - Armizan
Jenazah pendaki Malaysia Everest 2023 (ME 2023), Leftenan Kolonel (PA) Awang Askandar Ampuan Yaacub, 56, dijangka tiba di Malaysia Jumaat ini.
G57 harap ada majlis penghormatan khas untuk Awang Askandar
Allahyarham Awang Askandar sebagai anak jati Sabah telah membawa nama baik negeri ini bagi misi menawan Gunung Everest sehingga terkorban.
Lagi rakyat Malaysia, RJ Nagarajan berjaya tawan Everest
Seorang lagi anak Malaysia, RJ Nagarajan, 59, berjaya menawan puncak Gunung Everest pada Isnin.
Tragedi Everest: Jenazah Awang Askandar dibawa turun ke Everest Base Camp - Armizan
Jenazah pendaki Malaysia Everest 2023 (ME 2023), Awang Askandar Ampuan Yaacub, 56, yang meninggal dunia pada Jumaat lalu dijangka dibawa turun dari Camp 4 ke Everest Base Camp hari ini.
Tragedi Everest: Pencarian Hawari disertai enam malim gunung di tiga lokasi - Azim Afif
Operasi mencari dan menyelamat (SAR) pendaki orang kurang upaya (OKU) pendengaran, Muhammad Hawari Hashim, 33, diteruskan pada pagi Isnin.