China calls off spring climbing season over coronavirus concerns
BEIJING: China has decided to cancel the 2021 spring climbing season from the Tibetan side of Mount Everest, the world’s tallest peak, because of coronavirus concerns, the official Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.
The closure was confirmed in a notice on Friday from China’s general administration of sport, the official Xinhua news agency said. The move reflects the abundance of caution China has taken in dealing with the pandemic. While China has mostly curbed domestic transmission of the coronavirus, Nepal is experiencing a surge with record numbers of new infections and deaths. China had issued permits to 38 people, all Chinese citizens, to climb the 8,849-metre high mountain this spring.
Meanwhile, the Himalayan nation of Nepal, which is so short of oxygen canisters it has asked mountaineers to bring back their empties, has issued a record 408 permits to climb Everest in the April-may season.
Several climbers in Nepal have reported testing positive for Covid-19 after they were brought down from the Everest base camp.
The month of May usually has the best weather for climbing Everest. Scores have reached the summit this week and more are expected to make attempts later this month once the weather improves. Two climbers have died on the Nepalese side, one Swiss and one American.
China earlier said it would set up a separation line at the peak and prohibit people on its side from coming into contact with anyone on the Nepalese side. It was unclear how that would be done.