Virus Fails to Deter Hundreds of Climbers on Mount Everest
Voice of America
KATHMANDU, NEPAL - A year after Mount Everest was closed to climbers as the pandemic swept across the globe, hundreds are making the final push to the summit with only a few more days left in the season, saying they are undeterred by a coronavirus outbreak in base camp.
Three expedition teams to Everest canceled their climb this month following reports of people getting sick. But the remaining 41 teams decided to continue with hundreds of climbers and their guides scaling the 8,849-meter top in the season that ends in May, before bad weather sets in. "Even though the coronavirus has reached the Everest base camp, it has not made any huge effect like what is being believed outside of the mountain," said Mingma Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks, the biggest expedition operator on Everest. "No one has really fallen seriously sick because of COVID or died like the rumors that have been spreading." With 122 clients from 10 teams on Everest, the company led the biggest group but there were no serious illnesses among them, he said.Young women and their coach Dioguinho bring it in for a team huddle at the start of a football training session run by the Bola de Ouro social program, at the Complexo da Alemao favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 16, 2024. Agatha strikes a ball during a football training session run by the Bola de Ouro social program, at the Complexo da Alemao favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 16, 2024. Relatives watch a football training session for young women run by the Bola de Ouro social program at the Complexo da Alemao favela in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, May 16, 2024.
FILE - A vendor prepares his umbrella as hot days continue in Manila, Philippines, April 29, 2024. FILE - Motorcyclists stop in the shade of a skytrain line on a hot day in Bangkok, Thailand, May 3, 2024. FILE - A man drinks water as he takes a break from cleaning underground sewage on a hot day in Mumbai, India, May 2, 2024.