Climbing guide says at least 100 people infected with coronavirus on Mount Everest
- Lukas Furtenbach of Austria gave the first comprehensive estimate amid official Nepalese denials of a Covid-19 cluster
- China last week cancelled climbing from its side of Mount Everest over fears the virus could be spread from the Nepalese side
An expert climbing guide said on Saturday that a coronavirus outbreak on Mount Everest has infected at least 100 climbers and support staff, giving the first comprehensive estimate amid official Nepalese denials of a Covid-19 cluster on the world’s highest peak.
Lukas Furtenbach of Austria, who last week became the only prominent outfitter to halt his Everest expedition over virus fears, said one of his foreign guides and six Nepali Sherpa guides have tested positive.
“I think with all the confirmed cases we know now – confirmed from (rescue) pilots, from insurance, from doctors, from expedition leaders – I have the positive tests so we can prove this,” Furtenbach said in Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu.
“We have at least 100 people minimum positive for Covid in base camp, and then the numbers might be something like 150 or 200,” he said.
He said it was obvious there were many cases at the Everest base camp because he could visibly see people were sick, and could hear people coughing in their tents.
A total of 408 foreign climbers were issued permits to climb Everest this season, aided by several hundred Sherpa guides and support staff who’ve been stationed at base camp since April.