COVID-19 Update – Nepal, Solukhumbu and Everest Basecamp.

With a second wave of COVID-19 in Nepal reaching news channels in New Zealand we would like to provide an update from our source in Kathmandu. In addition, we have a special report from Guy Cotter who has been keenly following the situation at Everest Basecamp as Nepal reopens following its first-wave lockdowns.

A message from Mingma Norbu Sherpa, PhD, the CEO of Himalayan Trust Nepal.

The second wave of Covid-19 infection is active in Nepal.

The daily infection rate is increasing very fast and the infection of 25th April was 3200 cases. There were 28 deaths yesterday in Nepal. Nepalgunj in western Nepal is locked down for a week. Among the national todal infections, half of them are within Kathmandu valley. The local district administration chiefs are having an emergency meeting today. They may impose either lockdown or strict restrictions effective from 29th April. All schools in Kathmandu and major cities are closed until 15th April. The majority of the second wave problems are related to what’s happening in India. There are no specific problems in Solukhumbu so far. We are sending more masks and antigen kits to Khunde tomorrow.

There are no specific problems in Solukhumbu so far.

An update from Guy Cotter, CEO of Adventure Consultants in New Zealand on the situation at Everest Basecamp.

The news coming from the Khumbu and especially Everest Base Camp is especially troubling to me. I did not see a way that Nepal would avoid becoming embroiled in a second wave of Covid considering their porous border with India and the resurgence of the virus there. Sadly, that has come to be a reality with several climbers already evacuated with Covid from EBC and the summit phase of the season still to come over the next few weeks.

…Several climbers already evacuated with Covid from EBC and the summit phase of the season still to come over the next few weeks.

For us at Adventure Consultants, to not operate in Nepal this pre monsoon season was an extremely difficult decision to make. We know the tourism industry there needs income to survive and the longer the timeframe before tourism returns, the greater becomes their need. On the other hand, as people who have always done our best to be responsible practitioners in tourism, we did not want to run trips that might encourage the spread of Covid into the Khumbu or other vulnerable communities. Many of the international tourists climbing in Nepal felt they were not a threat because they had been vaccinated and therefore not the cause of the spread of the virus. What these people fail to understand is that it is the local people living in remote mountainous regions around the world who will be the last to receive a vaccine, and therefore, does it not make sense to delay travel until they have all been protected?

What these people fail to understand is that it is the local people living in remote mountainous regions around the world who will be the last to receive a vaccine, and therefore, does it not make sense to delay travel until they have all been protected?

The increase in Covid cases being reported in Nepal right now is very distressing considering the Nepalese governments’ perpetual efforts to control negative media and that the statistics are much worse than is being reported. Indians are still flocking to Nepal in unprecedented numbers so they can then enjoy onward travel to other international destinations after 14 days outside India. Vaccination has effectively come to a standstill and the Federal government is showing they don’t have the stomach to reduce the spread of the virus through the reintroduction of lock-downs and the banning of crowds. However, just today the local body administrators of the Kathmandu valley have announced a week long lockdown which is the first step to quelling the spread of the virus.

Photos from Himalayan Trust Nepal, 27th April, 2021.

1st May Update from Mingma Norbu in Kathmandu.

The Nepal government is going to impose a two week’s lockdown from tomorrow morning 6 a.m. Himalayan Trust Nepal office will be closed but all the staff will be working from home during the lockdown. The daily Covid infection in Nepal was 4500 yesterday. There were 14 deaths. Hospitals are getting more and more patients and some are already having space problems.

We are also hearing more climbers at the Everest base camp are also infected. Apart from that there is no news about community level infections in Solukhumbu. Covid preventive materials from our last time support are still there in the stocks in Phaplu and Khunde. If the outbreak becomes active and serious in the Solukhumbu, there may be more support required. But now worries at the moment.

Preplanned visit of AHF delegate to Nepal in May has been postponed for the time being. HTN’s field visit activities including Monjo water project inauguration and handover is likely to be postponed as well. The teacher’s training programme is also likely to be affected.