E-Paper
China to set up Covid-19 ‘separation line’ on Mt Everest
China will create “a line of separation” at the Mt Everest summit to prevent climbers from the Chinese side from mingling with those climbing the world’s tallest mountain from Nepal, Chinese state media has reported
China will create “a line of separation” at the Mt Everest summit to prevent climbers from the Chinese side from mingling with those climbing the world’s tallest mountain from Nepal, Chinese state media has reported.
The decision was taken after a number of Covid-19 cases were diagnosed among climbers ascending the mountain from Nepal, the report said.
The Everest base camp on the Nepalese side has been hit by coronavirus cases since late April with Kathmandu yet to cancel the spring climbing season. The country’s economy is heavily dependent on tourism revenue.
The peak climbing season is usually between April and early June before the monsoon sets in.
A team of Tibetan mountaineering guides will set up the separation line at the peak before climbers attempt to reach the summit from the Chinese side, official news agency, Xinhua, reported.
The report did not make it clear how the separation line will be drawn and defined or what it will be made of.
It’s likely that mountaineers climbing the north side of Everest from China will be prohibited from crossing the line or coming into contact with anyone or any objects on the Nepalese, side.
A group of 21 Chinese nationals are en route to the summit on the Tibetan side, Xinhua reported.
Though imported cases are reported daily, China has curbed the domestic transmission of Covid-19 infection. Nepal, however, has seen a surge in the outbreak with record new infections and deaths in recent days.
Most major cities and towns in the Himalayan country between India and China are under lockdown and all domestic and international flights are grounded.
In December, China and Nepal jointly announced that the mountain was 8848.86 metres or 29031.69 feet tall.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Nepalese counterpart Bidya Devi Bhandari jointly announced the new height of the tallest mountain in the world through an exchange of letters.
Until then, Nepal had recognised the height of the mountain as 8,848 metres as measured by the Survey of India in 1954.
The announcement marked the end of a debate between Beijing and Kathmandu over a “three-metre” height difference the two neighbours had on the mountain’s height.
