Nepal is closing the May 2021 climbing season, marked by a record 408 Everest permits after last year's was cancelled due to the pandemic.<br />Over the last two months since the climbing season began, more than 1,000 mountaineers and their mainly Nepali guides have been camped in the tent city.<br /><br />Dozens of suspected Covid cases have been flown out of the area and at least two companies have cancelled expeditions after team members tested positive.<br /><br />However authorities in Nepal have yet to acknowledge a single case at the mountain, with the stakes high for the country's tourism industry after a Covid shutdown last year cost millions in lost revenue.
