Coronavirus: Nepal issues new COVID-19 guidelines for mountaineering, trekking activities
Tourists must secure an entry-visa, or an entry-permit in absence of visa-provision in their countries in coordination with respective agencies.
FollowKathmandu: In what concerns foreign tourists, with an aim at minimising the spread of COVID-19 during mountaineering and trekking activities, Nepal's Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation has issued new guidelines.
According to reports, one among the most important guidelines is that the tourists must secure an entry-visa, or an entry-permit in absence of visa-provision in their countries in coordination with respective agencies, The Himalayan Times reported.
The report added that the travellers must also carry a PCR test report conducted not more than 72 hours ago, proving that the person was COVID-19 negative.
The person must have booking-documents for the hotel wherein they will stay for at least seven days in quarantine and also provide papers showing that he/she has an insurance of $5,000.
In addition to the above-mentioned conditions, the traveller must also undergo a PCR test at their own expense on the fifth day of being quarantined and if the result is positive, the person must stay in quarantine for as long as they do not test negative.
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The Ministry further said that the trekking or mountaineering agency must insure travellers from Nepal against coronavirus for a sum of 100,000 NPR prior to applying for permit, reports The Himalayan Times.
Travel enthusiasts must also abide by all the protocols laid out by the Health Ministry.
Meanwhile, eight-time Everest climber Pemba Sherpa criticised the new guidelines, saying there will be no trekkers and mountaineers in the upcoming season.
"They won't come here to stay at a hotel for a week even after having a negative PCR report," Sherpa said while asking the government to review its decision.
Nepal opened Mount Everest and other Himalayan peaks on July 30 after a nearly five-month closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
