BEIJING (AFP) - China has banned attempts to scale Everest from its side of the world's highest peak, as Beijing takes its unflinching Covid-19 controls to the Roof of the World.
China was the first country hit by the pandemic in late 2019, but has since largely contained the disease with strict border controls. Beijing fears a rebound of infections could emerge from abroad.
With borders all but closed since March 2020, China is now worried about risks at the snow-capped summit, which it shares with Nepal at 8,848 meters above sea level, as the spring climbing season roars to life.
Nepal, India's neighbour, has been hit hard by a second wave of the epidemic, just as the Himalayan state was planning to revive its tourism this summer after a wiped-out 2020 season. In recent weeks the coronavirus has been recorded at base camp on the Nepalese side of the climb.