China has opened Mount Everest’s northern slope to a couple of dozen mountaineers who are going to be tested for the coronavirus and must keep their distance while ascending the world’s highest peak.
Due to the the pandemic, both Nepal and China closed the mountain to foreign climbers last year. Nepal has allowed in foreign climbers this season regardless of a surging COVID-19 outbreak, and from those climbers, at least one climber, a Norwegian, confirmed last month he had contracted the virus.
The officials from Nepal mountaineering have denied any outbreak on the mountain, citing only hypoxia and other ailments common within the cold, harsh, low-oxygen environment where climbers stay in close quarters. This week, the Himalayan nation halted all flights as a part of a stringent lockdown of its capital and major cities amidst its recent surge.
In contrast, China, where COVID-19 first emerged, has now largely contained domestic transmission of the virus, but it’s maintained restrictions like health checks and is on guard against imported cases.
The 38 people those were issued Chinese permits to climb the height , referred to as Qomolongma in Tibetan, must come from parts of China that are at low risk for infection and have to show a clean bill of health before attempting the summit, state media reported Friday.
They must undergo temperature checks on a regular basis, use bottled oxygen and stay 4 meters (13 feet) from other climbers at the summit. They’re going to be provided masks, thermometers and disinfectant.
Climbing schedules from the mountains south side, which is in Nepal, are going to be consulted so packs of climbers don’t meet, said Nyima Tsering, head of the bureau overseeing Chinese climbing operations. People not registered to go up the Chinese side are strictly barred from that side.
Last year, China used the break in climbing to haul around 6 tons garbage off the mountain that has attracted ever-larger groups of climbers enabled by commercial mountaineering companies.
In 2019, 362 people climbed Everest from the north , out of which 241 made it to the summit. Slightly more climbed from Nepal, where the sale of mountaineering permits and trekking and mountaineering jobs are major drivers of the local economy.
