Nepal government begging Everest climbers to return used oxygen canisters as it combats second wave of COVID-19
Much like its neighbors across Asia, Nepal is also dealing with a second wave of COVID-19, forcing the nation’s government to take drastic steps in helping make up for the lack of resources they have available to treat coronavirus patients.
Nepal’s health care system is on the bring of collapse as the country has logged over 8,000 new coronavirus cases every day according to Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 data. As hospitals deal with an influx in cases, oxygen supply is drastically reduced forcing the Nepal Mountaineering Association to urge climbers of Mount Everest to return used oxygen canisters so that they me be used to treat patients.
“We appeal to climbers and Sherpas to bring back their empty bottles wherever possible as they can be refilled and used for the treatment of the coronavirus patients who are in dire needs,” said Kul Bahadur Gurung, a senior official with the NMA.
According to Gurung, in this climbing season Sherpa guides have carried at minimum 3,500 bottle of oxygen for the journey up to both the tallest mountain in the world, and several other Himalayan peaks.
The Nepalese government had already issued climbing permits for more than 700 climbers this season to try and restart the tourism economic sector.
“We need about 25,000 oxygen cylinders immediately to save people from dying. This is our urgent need,” said Samir Kumar Adhikari, a health ministry official, to The Guardian.
One doctor informed The Guardian that in one hospital in southwest Nepal, hospitals are so overcrowded that patients are sleeping on the floor.
According to Health and Population Minister Hridayesh Tripathi, Nepal’s neighbor China has offered to provide much needed medical supplies including oxygen to the country.
