Mt. Everest: too crowded to Social Distance

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'There used to be coughs, common colds and a risk of getting into avalanches and crevasses in the past. But this year, the danger was if we got infected from Covid we would not be able to climb up because it makes breathing difficult and causes fatigue,' said guide Mingma Dorji Sherpa.

Despite precautions that teams tried to take - including masking, sanitising and isolating - virus cases began to spread.

Pilots in PPE suits arrived to evacuate dozens of suspected Covid-19 patients out of the area and at least two companies cancelled expeditions after team members tested positive.

Many climbers confirmed their diagnosis on social media and blogs, including some who had reached the summit.

When Icelandic duo Sigurdur Sveinsson and Heimir Hallgrimsson began coughing as they reached around 23,000ft, they suspected they had caught the virus. Still, they made it to the summit 29,000ft above sea level.
Their symptoms became stronger as they descended.

'In camp 2, we were both very sick from coughing, headaches and other fatigue. We suspected that not everything was perfect and we needed to get down as fast as possible,' they said in a statement last Thursday.

They said they both tested positive on reaching the base camp, and isolated in their tents.

Yet authorities in Nepal have not acknowledged a single case at the mountain, with the stakes high after last year's shutdown cost one of Asia's poorest countries millions in lost revenue. Porters and guides for well-heeled foreign climbers were left without income.

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