Nepal halts all spring climbing expeditions
Kathmandu: Nepal government on Thursday took a firm stance to suspend all tourist visas and Spring mountaineering expeditions including the Everest summit to curb the increasing global Coronavirus pandemic in the country.
China has already halted all Everest expeditions from the Tibetan side, in a move to combat the sinister COVID-19 pandemic.
The government’s decision to this effect comes in the aftermath of the WHO declaration about COVID-19 pandemic and calling for nations to take precautionary measures against Coronavirus.
With the closure of the Everest expedition and mountaineering in this spring season, the government is likely to suffer a loss of more than $4 million which is collected from the permits given to climbers.
The lethal epidemic Coronavirus known as COVID-19 which spread from mainland China has already claimed the lives of over 4,984 people globally with maximum deaths in China only and around 134,800 people (in more than 120 countries) being infected around the world by now.
COVID-19 has insidiously affected tourism worldwide, including Nepal. Nepal continues to scramble for preventive measures with limited resources. At least 656 climbers representing 44 expedition teams of various countries had scaled Mt. Everest last year in 2019.
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