(ANSA) - BEIJING, MAY 10 - China will install a "separation line" on the summit of Mount Everest to avoid possible Covid-19 infections by Nepalese climbers, following the several dozen cases registered at the camp based in the neighboring country, at caught with a new wave of coronavirus.
In fact, more than thirty mountaineers have been evacuated from the Nepalese side of the highest peak in the world in recent weeks, raising fears that the virus could ruin a season of exceptional climbing on Mount Everest, on the border between China and Nepal.
Tibetan authorities said they would take "the most stringent epidemic prevention measures" to avoid contact between mountaineers on the north and south slopes or at the top, Xinhua news agency reported Sunday.
In this regard, the mountain guides will establish demarcation lines, however not better defined, on the top of the mountain before allowing the mountaineers to start the climb, according to what has been said by the Tibet Mountaineering Association: 21 Chinese mountaineers have been authorized to climb the summit of Everest in the 2021 after having been in Tibet since the beginning of April.
The Chinese side will also step up virus control measures in the Chinese base camp on the northern side of the mountain, banning non-climbers from entering the Everest panoramic area. Beijing has banned foreigners from climbing Everest since last year due to the pandemic, while Nepal has issued a record number of permits in an attempt to revive its collapsed tourism industry for the coronavirus.
A single Everest permit from Nepal costs 11,000 US dollars, while climbers pay up to 40,000 dollars for an expedition. (HANDLE).
