Health
COVID reaches “top of Earth”
At least 17 of the climbers at the base camp on the world's highest peak Mount Everest have tested positive for novel coronavirus.
According to an international news agency, a large number of climbers at the base camp on the peak were rushed to a hospital in the Nepal capital Kathmandu, after showing signs of cowardice.
Coronavirus cases have risen sharply in Nepal in recent weeks, raising fears of a serious outbreak at the base camp on Mount Everest.
Officials at the base camp said they had received reports of coronavirus in 17 hikers admitted to hospitals in the capital, Kathmandu.
Staff at a private hospital in Kathmandu have confirmed that patients brought from Everest base camp have tested positive for the coronavirus.
However, the Nepalese government has so far refused to provide any information about positive cases at Everest Base Camp.
The Nepalese government fears that if the corona cases among mountaineers are confirmed—the country's main source of income will have to stop which comes from the campaign to reach the highest peak as Foreign climbers are a major source of income for the Nepalese government.
However, Mount Everest was closed last year during the COVID epidemic.
Since then Nepalese officials are urging foreign climbers to complete quarantine on their way to the base camp.
However, the mountaineering community has expressed concern that those who climb Mount Everest are at serious risk of contracting the virus.
Nepal's Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation undersecretary Prem Subedi told that his ministry was not aware of any climbers at the base camp of Mount Everest.
He clarified that no case of pusillanimity in the Everest base camp has been reported to the Ministry of Tourism so far.
The Himalayan Rescue Association, which runs a government-run medical clinic at the base camp told the outlet that it had confirmed COVID positive cases of corona in some climbers who reached Kathmandu through expeditionary teams.
Lakpa Noro Sherpa, an official with the Himalayan Rescue Association, said: "We have confirmed the corona to be positive in 17 climbers brought from Mount Everest to Kathmandu."
Dr Prakash Kharal, who is present at the Everest Base Camp Clinic said that the number of climbers with symptoms like cough and fever is increasing daily.
"All climbers at Mount Everest base camp usually have a cough, but we are seeing people with other symptoms and we are making sure they are kept separate," said Dr Kharal.