At least 100 people at the Mount Everest base camp have tested positive for Covid-19, a climbing guide told Huff Post.
Lukas
Furtenbach, an outfitter who paused expeditions out of fear of the
virus, said that one of his international guides and six Nepali sherpa
guides have tested postive.
“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,” he told the Associated Press.
“We have at least 100 people minimum positive for COVID in base camp, and then the numbers might be something like 150 or 200,”Furtenbach added that people appeared to be visibly sick and that he was able to hear hikers coughing in their tents.
The number of coronavirus-infected hikers is outstanding considering that the Nepalese government has issued only 408 hiking permits to Everest this season, and that there are only a couple hundred climbing guides stationed at the base camp.(thedailybeast)