Nepal lifts virus ban for Bahrain royal climbing expedition

 Manama, Kathmandu

Nepal is making an exception to its coronavirus (COVID-19) ban on foreign arrivals, with Bahrain’s team of elite Royal Guard servicemen set to tackle two major peaks, it has been reported. The Himalayan country shut its borders in March, including grounding international flights just ahead of the busy spring season, devastating the local tourism sector.

But the Kingdom’s multi-member party have been given special permission to enter Nepal to climb the 8,163-metre Mount Manaslu and the 6,119-metre Lobuche. Government spokesman Yuba Raj Khatiwada said on Monday that the team is being allowed to enter via a chartered flight.

They are due to arrive as early as mid-September, as they are also planning to climb Everest—the world’s tallest mountain—next year. More than 50 Sherpas will join the expedition, with helicopters used to minimise contact, said organiser Seven Summit Treks.

Nepal reopened its mountains—including Everest—in late July for the autumn climbing season, in anticipation that international flights would resume in mid-August. But a jump in virus infections in recent weeks saw the government delay opening up such flights. Limited international flights resumed yesterday but only for citizens and foreign diplomats.

Domestic flights have not restarted. Foreigners have also been banned from entering Nepal by land. The absence of foreign climbers has exacerbated the financial fallout for tourist operators. The country of 28 million people recorded 9,000 new coronavirus infections and 91 deaths over the last 10 days. It has reported a total of nearly 40,000 cases and more than 200 deaths. Nepal is home to eight of the world’s 14 highest peaks, and foreign climbers are a major source of revenue.