In The New York Times, Bhadra Sharma and Emily Schmall write that cases of coronavirus were reported in Mt. Everest climbers in April in base camp while awaiting to climb the summit. However, The Times writes citing Government of Nepal “there was never any Covid-19 on Everest. Tourism officials dismissed the accounts of climbers, calling one a pneumonia patient. Coughing, they added, is nothing new in the dry mountain air.

“Nepal’s tourism department, which oversees Everest expeditions, maintained this position even as people were being airlifted off the mountain and expeditions were being canceled — a rare event because of the great expense and effort made to train, travel to Nepal and try to summit Everest,” writes The Times.

“In April, a Norwegian climber, Erlend Ness; a British climber, Steve Davis; and others wrote on social media about having Covid-19 during their Everest expeditions”.

“’From 2 hospitals last 3 days. Today I will have a PCR test. Hope to leave the hospital soon,’ Mr. Ness wrote on Facebook, posting a photo of himself in a mask in a hospital bed.”

• Dozens Came Down With Covid-19 on Everest. Nepal Says It Never Happened.

According The Times, Nepal authorities had strong incentives to play down the Covid situation on Everest. “Nepal closed its peaks in 2020 because of the pandemic, after bringing in more than $2 billion from climbing and trekking in 2019. If the Covid-19 cases were publicized, it could tarnish Nepal’s image as a tourist destination, and invite climbers whose expeditions were canceled to demand extensions of their climbing permits.”