COVID-19: Everest and coronavirus

Update from 22:37. Just a couple of hours ago Nepal made a decision to cancel all expeditions and stop issuing visas for ALL foreigners.

Due to the coronavirus, on March 11, 200, China announced the closure of access to Everest from Tibet. This is an absolutely logical decision - in the highlands, even a common cold can easily kill a person, and coronavirus even more so. Base camps “provide” ideal conditions for infection - a large number of people from different countries are concentrated in a relatively confined space, while their immune system is weakened by the altitude and their respiratory organs work under double load.

Therefore, all expeditions that planned to climb the highest peak of the planet from the northern side (i.e. from Tibet) are either canceling their events... or moving them to the southern side of Everest - to Nepal.

What do you hear from Nepal? A couple of days ago, news came from Namche Bazaar that the famous team of Ice Doctors (sherpas who “repair” the glacier) moved towards Everest to prepare a route through the Khumbu Icefall. This seems to imply that not all expeditions have abandoned their plans and some teams will still try to climb Chomolungma this season.

What might climbers face if they finally reach Everest this year? Let me make a few assumptions:

• on the slopes of the main mountain, with equal probability, it can be both incredibly empty and habitually crowded (if the panic subsides)
• insurance companies may refuse to issue contracts and organize evacuations during a pandemic
• on completion of the ascent, you can get stuck in Nepal due to canceled flights or quarantine on one side or another

However, all this is written with a pitchfork. The situation changes at lightning speed and at any moment the picture can change radically.

So far, the Nepalese government has not made any statements about the prospects of closing access to Everest on its part. However, it is clear that such a possibility cannot be ruled out. Not long ago, it was announced that the “Visit Nepal Year 2020” advertising campaign, aimed at promoting Nepal among foreign tourists, would be discontinued. And the Holi holiday (this is when crowds run through the streets and throw colored powder), which this year fell on March 9, was unusually quiet and restrained. Nepalese people are also scared of the coronavirus.

Nepal has so far only reported one case of COVID-19 (a student who studied in Wuhan), but the real situation is likely more serious.

There are a huge number of pedestrian checkpoints on the Nepal border with India and China, and not all of them carry out temperature screening. However, today at the Kakarbhitta checkpoint two citizens of Ukraine (spouses Andrey Larygin and Elena Klinko) were detained (spouses Andrei Larygin and Elena Klinko), who tried to cross the Indian-Nepalese border with a high temperature (about 40 degrees Celsius) and other symptoms.