China’s Mount Everest climbers stuck in Nepal as Beijing bars flights due to Covid risk

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Around 30 mountaineers from China are stranded in Nepal due to COVID-19 restrictions imposed by Beijing, according to a <em>Reuters  </em>report from Kathmandu.</p>
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Nepal has seen a sudden surge in Covid-19 infections and the country has a positivity rate of more than 24%. This has led to many countries, including China,  imposing restrictions on travellers from the Himalayan country.</p>
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Hong Kong resident Tsang Yin-Hung, who is the fastest woman climber to scale Mount Everest in a record time of 25 hours and 50 minutes last month, said getting back home appeared harder than her ascent to the 8,848.86 metre (29,032 feet) peak.</p>
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“I think the summit climb for me was possible and achievable. But  going back home looks hopeless. There is no way to go back,” Reuters quoted 44-year-old Tsang as saying.</p>
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"There are no flights from Nepal to any place in China or Hong Kong,” she said.</p>
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<strong>Also read: </strong> <a href="https://www.indianarrative.com/latest-news/indian-everester-gives-clarion-call-for-renewable-energy-97007.html">Indian Everester gives clarion call for renewable energy</a></p>
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Reuters also cited Tashi Lakpa Sherpa, a senior official at the Seven Summit Treks company as saying that more than 30 Chinese climbers were stranded in Kathmandu.</p>
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Interestingly, China had decided to cancel the 2021 spring climbing season from the Tibetan side of Mount Everest, to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The decision was taken  after 30 climbers with Covid-19 symptoms were evacuated from the base camp on the Nepalese side of the world's highest mountain.</p>
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China had earlier decided to set up a "separation line" on the peak of Mount Everest to avoid possible Covid-19 infections by mountaineers from the Nepal side.</p>
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Mount Everest is situated on the China-Nepal border, with the northern slope falling on the Chinese side.</p>
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China had given approval to 21 mountaineers to climb to the summit of Mount Everest this year after having quarantined in Tibet since early April, the official said.</p>
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However, this year Nepal has issued a record number of 408 climbing permits to try and boost visitors after its tourism industry suffered a devastating blow in 2020 from the  pandemic as mountaineering expeditions to Mount Everest were stopped</p>
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An Everest permit alone from Nepal costs $11,000 and climbers pay more than $40,000 for an expedition.</p>
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More than a thousand people are usually camped at the base of Mount Everest on the Nepalese side during the climbing season, including foreign climbers and the </p>
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teams of Nepali guides that escort them to the peak.</p>