Nepal has temporarily suspended its visa-on-arrival policy until the end of April. And Nepal revoked all mountain expeditions, including Mount those to Everest. It’s as a precautionary measure against the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).
The Nepali government took those decisions after the World Health Organization declared a pandemic of COVID-19 on Wednesday.
Nepal has so far reported only one case of coronavirus (COVID-19). The infected person has already recovered. The Ministry of Health and Population implements the countermeasures to assure – how safe is in Nepal?
Visa-on-arrival will suspend for peoples of all countries until the 30th of April. The suspension of this facility starts on Saturday.
Previously, the Nepal government had temporarily suspended visa-on-arrival for 8-countries. Those are China, South Korea, Japan, Iran, Italy, Spain, German, and French nationals. Effective from 14th March, Nepal has halted visa-on-arrival for all countries. But Nepal’s Government has not suspended issuing certain forms of visas.
The suspension of the visa, which excludes diplomatic and official visas, will take effect on March 14 and will remain until April 30. They will remain in self-quarantine for 14-days established to counter the COVID-19.
Nepal has also suspended entry facilities for foreigners by land routes except for Indian nationals. The only particular border will allow crossing between two nations during these periods.
Nepal and India have an open border, and the two countries have more than 100 border crossings.
Revoked All Expedition
The Department of Tourism had already issued five permits for the spring expeditions. It is in the final stage for applying for permits but not apply for Everest yet. Issued permits or on the verge of being presented for spring expeditions in 2020 have been revoked for now.
Spring is Nepal’s primary trekking season, which begins in early April and runs through May. Since the end of March, Mountaineers usually apply for Everest permits. All of them await with high anxiety the spring trekking season, generating much-needed incomes and employment to the mountainous region from hotels and restaurants, guides and porters, and airlines to helicopters. The Government is earning millions of dollars of revenue by issuing expedition permits. It will be a massive loss to the Himalayan country.
Typically an expedition to Everest takes 45 to 65-days, a short climbing time, depending on weather conditions, and usually falls after mid-May.
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