Home to eight of the world’s 14 highest peaks, Nepal has been closed to climbing and expeditions since March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Himalayan country of 30 million people has so far recorded 19,547 cases of Covid-19 and 52 deaths.
While Covid-19 infections are decreasing in many countries, many South Asian countries, including Nepal, are still witnessing an increase in new cases.
Nepal will reopen for mountaineering and issue permits for the fall season, said Mira Acharya, the government tourism official. Climbers will have to follow government health protocols. The fall climbing season in Nepal is from September to November.
The ban on climbing during the country’s peak climbing season in April and May has cost Nepal millions of dollars. Hundreds of foreign tourists and some 200,000 local guides and transporters have been hit hard by the closure of Mount Everest.
Although the government is now keen to reopen the trekking routes, international flights are not expected to resume until mid-August and domestic travel bans remain in place in Nepal, meaning climbers will remain restricted for the time being.
On July 30, the Nepalese government also allowed restaurants and hotels to reopen with some restrictions such as not being able to organize seminars, conferences, or reopen gyms or casinos.
