Nepal has closed all of its Himalayan peaks including Mount Everest this climbing season because of fears of the coronavirus outbreak, a government minister said on Friday, EDNews reports citing Ejinsight.
Nepal, home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains including Everest, earns more than US$4 million in climbing permit fees every year.
Tourism Minister Yogesh Bhattarai said expeditions to all peaks in the March-May spring season had been suspended.
“Climbing this season has been closed,” Bhattarai told Reuters.
“It is as a precaution for that,” he said when asked if it was because of the coronavirus.
Nepal has confirmed just one case of the coronavirus – a student studying in China on a trip home – out of 450 people tested.
The suspension of expeditions in Nepal will affect hundreds of foreign climbers now preparing for the spring season, a window or relatively good weather between the end of the bitterly cold winter and the rainy season, which begins in June.