Chinese and Nepalese Governments close Mount Everest to climbers

Fears over Coronavirus has reportedly prompted both the Chinese and Nepalese Government to close off their sides of Mount Everest to hopeful climbers.

Multiple mountaineering sources told the USA’s ABC News that Chinese authorities will halt issuing  new permits issued for the upcoming (northern hemisphere) spring season for those looking to make ascend the mountain.

The upcoming months - March through May - are among the most popular for climbing the Himalayan mountain.

Nepal has also halted its popular visa-on-arrival scheme, which will make it almost impossible for Australians to visit the country.

In relation to the Chinese closure, Adrian Ballinger, Chief Executive of Aplenglow Expeditions, wrote in an Instagram post on Wednesday: “Today, China announced the closure of Mt. Everest for the spring season.

“While I am saddened for all the hard work our members, guides, Sherpa, local staff, partners and office have put in, that they and we won’t get to test ourselves on the highest playground in the world this year, I am in agreement with China’s decision. It is responsible.”

Ballinger added that no Mount Everest experience would be worth transmitting the Coronavirus, particularly among those at close-quartered base camps. Even with climbers enjoying high levels of physical fitness - which would put them less at risk for the illness - he noted that conditions on the mountain could worsen symptoms.

Ballinger told ABC News “we’d be combining coronavirus, an upper respiratory infection that sometimes goes to the lungs, with an already dramatically reduced effectiveness upper respiratory system due to the altitude.”

More than 30,000 Australians travel to Nepal each year, with the spring climbing season beginning in March and peaking in April and May.

Nepal relies heavily on tourism revenue, with hotels, airlines and the huge mountain-guiding community all set to suffer losses from the decision.

Dawa Shepra of Kathmandu-based Climbalaya Treks and Expeditions said they were told that while Coronavirus was getting under control in China, medical officials did not want to risk bringing in foreign climbers.

Chinese Premier Xi Jingping recently declared the disease “basically curbed” on the mainland. On Wednesday, China saw only 10 new domestic infections, lending credibility to the nation’s strict control measures and their effectiveness.

More than 80,000 people in China have been diagnosed with the disease since it first emerged in December. Health experts and officials worldwide have been struggling for months to curb the virus, which seemingly originated at a large seafood and animal market in Wuhan, a city of 11 million in the Hubei province.

Image: The northern face of Mt Everest as seen from the Tibet/Chinese side of the mountain.