‘Fear and panic’ COVID destroys Nepalese villages near Mount Everest News Mount Everest News

Kathmandu, Nepal – When Saraswati Tamang Karki fell ill with COVID-19 in a village near Mount Everest, his family had to call Nepalese soldiers and trekking guides to take him to the nearest doctor.

On June 11, a group of 13 men took turns carrying a 44-year-old child on a stretcher, hurrying up and down the narrow, winding dirt roads that lead from the village of Monju to Pasang Lhamu Nicole Niquille Hospital. Luklakoa.

They made the 15-kilometer (nine-mile) journey in less than four hours, but it was too late.

The Karki group died before they reached Lukla.

“We tried. But we couldn’t save him, “said Silen Bhotiya, the trekking guide who helped lead Karki.” He was too weak and already had the help of oxygen. “

According to health officials, Karki’s fourth confirmed COVID-19 death was in the Everest region since late April, when a Norwegian mountaineer seeking to seek the world’s highest peak became the first person in the field to be positive this year.

Neighbors in the remote region are worried, however, that many more people could be killed, as COVID-19 is now destroying villages along the trails to Mount Everest.

Entire homes have become ill, but there is a shortage of health workers, hospital beds and testing kits. There are only two hospitals and five doctors serving the region’s 9,000 residents. About 400 tests have been conducted since the end of April, almost half of which have been positive.

“Every day the situation is getting worse,” Bhotiya said. “On the way to Lukla we saw a lot of patients making their way to get medical help. Some were riding. Some were carried on the backs of others. We are all scared afterwards [Karki] died. “

Appearance at base camp

The most affected in recent times are Lukla, an airport town that acts as a gateway to Mount Everest, and Namche Bazaar, a colorful market at 3,440 meters where most hikers stop to warm up before climbing the mountain.

But smaller settlements on the tree line also run above the virus.

Pemba Dorjee Sherpa, the mountain guide who has climbed Mount Everest nine times, said it was positive shortly after returning from the main campground at the base of the summit in late May.

“I had symptoms like cold and mild body aches. Since these symptoms are common in the mountains, I wasn’t worried much, ”he said.

The 47-year-old woman transmitted the virus to her wife and two children, all of whom are isolated at home in Pangboche, a village five kilometers from Everest base camp. Several members of the Pemba group have also tested positive, saying 15 of the 100 homes in Pangboch have confirmed the cases.

“So far there have been no deaths, but there are a lot of people with coronavirus symptoms,” he said.

Namche Baza, located at 3,440 meters above sea level, is one of the most affected places in the Khumbu Valley [Photo courtesy: Aiman Rasheed]

Officials believe the tourists brought COVID-19 to the remote region [Photo courtesy: Aiman Rasheed]

Mount Everest, the highest peak in the world, and the other peaks of the Himalayan range are seen from an airplane window on a mountain flight from Kathmandu, Nepal. [File: Monika Deupala/Reuters]

Local health officials believe the tourists brought the virus to the region.

Nepalese authorities, concerned about the virus that canceled the climbing season last year, opened Mount Everest to climbers in February this year, giving a record 408 permits to those who wanted to reach the summit and allowing thousands of tourists to enter the nearby Khumbu Valley. -day rides.

“Many of the infected are climbing guides or porters or those who had a close relationship [the tourists]”Said Aarti Maya Tamang Khumbu, coordinator of health in Pasanglhamu Rural Municipality.” We believe the virus came through the Everest base camp. Our settlements are scattered on the way to the base camp and many people here work in tourism. ”

Residents and trekking guides said they expected some cases in the region with an abundance of climbers and mountaineers, but said the Nepalese government had failed to comply with health protocols that caused the virus to spread across the area.

“The mandatory PCR test to enter the Khumbu Valley was not met for all expedition and trekking groups,” Lukas Furtenbach told Austrian-based Furtenbach Adventures. “We had to submit negative results of the PCR test to obtain a permit for shipping permits, but there were many groups that did not have to follow this procedure.”

Furtenbach complained that a neighbor from India, southern Nepal, entered the Khumbu Valley without undergoing a PCR test, even though hospitals and crematoria across the Indian subcontinent had a horrific outbreak.

Seven members of the Furtenbach base camp in Everest tested positive and canceled their company expedition in mid-May. “The Nepalese government was supposed to end the season when it was obvious that there was a big outcry at the base camp,” he said.

“Successful season”

Authorities initially refused to report cases of camping and allowed the season to continue, although the rest of the country was severely shut down on May 6 due to infections in the Kathmandu capital – driven by the Delta variant. It was detected in India – there were shortages of oxygen and ICU beds.

Nepal has now registered more than 614,000 cases and more than 8,558 deaths, most of which have been reported in the last two months.

Furtenbach said the government has allowed the climbing season to continue to protect the local tourism industry. “And that’s good … But according to international health standards,” he said, “all people in the base camp should be classified as contacted by a tested positive person and quarantined.”

A spokesman for the Nepalese Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has denied any wrongdoing.

“We don’t have any information about Indian tourists going to the mountains without projecting COVID-19. Protocols were mandatory for everyone, “said ministry spokesman Prem Subedi.” We have made efforts to establish rules and ensure the safety of climbers. “

He added: “The season was a great success.”

Nepalese authorities ordered the closure of Everest base camp except for climbers and support staff, when the incident occurred, tourists told Al Jazeera that the virus was already spreading, perhaps independently, in tea houses for hiking groups in the wide Khumbu valley.

Subedi said he believes “things will get much better next season as the vaccine gains strength around the world.”

He added, “It’s still early days, but the vaccine may be mandatory for climbers from next season.”

‘Everything is mess’

In the Khumbu Valley, residents said interim Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli – who recently dissolved parliament with a faction of his party amid a fierce power struggle – was not doing enough to deal with the current rally.

“Our main problem is transportation,” said Ram Kumar Tamang Phyafulla Tamang Sewa Samaj, president of the Everest regional NGO. “Since we are not connected to the roads, our only option is to travel by air in an emergency. In case of emergency you need to rent a flight. It is impossible for the poor to pay such money. It would be a great relief if the government would guarantee free or subsidized flights for poor patients. “

After that, he said the next step was to increase testing in the Khumbu Valley and include those at greatest risk.

Otherwise, he said, they will not be able to welcome tourists again in October.

“Tourism is our salvation. But everything is mixed up right now. All shops, hotels are closed. If things continue like this, I doubt there will be a season in October. People are already worried about unemployment and hunger. Many families need immediate help. But the government has done nothing so far.

“Fear and panic is felt everywhere.”