New Delhi: With 17 mountaineers from the Mount Everest base camp testing positive for Covid-19 Wednesday, local authorities now fear a serious outbreak as several other climbers have reported symptoms of the disease.
According to a report in the BBC, base camp officials in Nepal had received the reports of the 17 climbers from hospitals in the capital city of Kathmandu where they had been sent for treatment.
“We have just received from Kathmandu confirmation of 17 positive cases [in climbers flown out of Everest],” said Lhakpa Nuru Sherpa, an official with the Himalayan Rescue Association, which operates a government-authorised medical clinic at the base camp.
However, the Nepalese government has denied knowledge about the rising infections at Everest camps.
“None of the Covid cases at Everest base camp have been reported so far to the Ministry of Tourism,” said Prem Subedi, the under-secretary at Nepal’s Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation.
The BBC notes that the government denial has raised concerns that they are downplaying the situation fearing that it will pressure them to shut down the expedition, which is a major source of revenue for the country.
Covid symptoms often mistaken for altitude sickness
Camp authorities at Everest are attempting to tackle the virus by making it mandatory for visiting climbers to quarantine in Nepal before proceeding to the base camp.
A serious outbreak at Everest can be devastating as climbers often mistake Covid-19 symptoms for altitude sickness, which delays detection of cases, isolation and evacuation.
Last month, just a few weeks after the world’s tallest peak reopened to climbers following a year of closure, Norwegian mountaineer Erlend Ness tested positive for Covid-19.
Ness, who was initially thought to be suffering from altitude sickness, was airlifted from the camp when his condition showed no improvement after six days in the mountains.
Mountaineers and officials also said the absence of any Covid testing facility at the base camp health clinic is a major handicap.
“We had requested a testing facility but the government said they could not give the permission,” Dr Prakash Kharel, who works at the camp clinic, told the BBC.
He also said that the number of people showing Covid-19 symptoms, such as a persistent cough and fever, was increasing daily.
Mount Everest was closed in 2020 because of the pandemic and was reopened this year in April for the climbing season. Nepal’s Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation had handed out a record 394 Everest climbing permits for expeditions. The cost to climb Mount Everest for a foreign climber is $11,000 (Rs 8,13,554 approximately).
Nepal Tuesday reported a record 7,587 new Covid-19 cases, taking the country’s total infections to count to 3,51,005.
The country halted all domestic flights Monday and all international flights from Wednesday midnight till 14 May. The government also shut 22 border points with India Friday.
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