The ubiquitous new crown virus has spread to Mount Everest in the Himalayas, the roof of the world, and climbers, despite conquering the world’s highest peak with courage, are powerless in the face of the virus, with people leaving every day because of the infection.
A professional mountain guide said Saturday that the outbreak along Everest is spreading, and at least 100 climbers and support staff have now been infected with the virus, according to the Associated Press.
Last week, Austrian climber Lukas Furtenbach announced that his plans to climb Everest had been canceled because of the changing epidemic. Furtenbach’s team included one foreign guide and six local (Nepalese) guides who tested positive for the virus.
The Associated Press quoted him as saying, “We now know that there have been so many confirmed cases, pilots, insurance companies, doctors, climbing team leaders all keep confirming to me that I have so many positive test results that we can prove it.”
Furtenbach said, “There are at least 100 people infected with the virus at Everest Base Camp, and that number could actually be 150 or 200 cases.”
He said it was clear that many cases were occurring at Everest Base Camp camp, as he witnessed many people getting sick and coughing could be heard everywhere in the tents.
The British Daily Telegraph said at least 77 of the local guides were infected with the virus. Every day, planes are transporting people infected with the virus from Everest Base Camp camp.
In total, 408 foreign climbers have been granted permits to climb Everest during the current season, along with their support staff and guides, who have been stationed at Everest Base Camp camp since April.
Nepali officials have been reluctant to admit that climbers have contracted the virus, possibly because they fear that announcing cases of infection might affect tourism here. But last year, climbing activities here were called off because of the outbreak. Last week, the Chinese announced that climbing on the Chinese side of Mount Everest was suspended because of the worsening epidemic in Nepal.
Austrian climber Fotenbach said there are still many climbing teams at the base camp camp and they hope the weather will clear next week so they can make one last push to the summit of Everest before the end of this climbing season at the end of this month.
Nepal, with a population of only 28 million, is one of the countries with the worst outbreak of the new coronavirus in the world. Nepalese officials reported 8607 new cases and 177 deaths in Nepal on Friday. The small highland kingdom has a cumulative total of 497,000 confirmed cases and 6,024 deaths.
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