Lukas Furtenbach of Austria said that his estimates are based on the confirmation of rescue pilots, insurance providers, doctors and expedition leaders. A week after the suspension of the Everest expedition for fear of the virus, he spoke with the Associated Press in Kathmandu on Saturday.

Furtenbach said that the test results of one of his foreign guides and six Nepalese Sherpa guides were positive.

He said: “We have the lowest COVID positive rate of at least 100 people in the base camp, and then this number may be 150 or 200.”

He said that it is obvious that there are many cases in the Everest base camp because he can clearly see people getting sick and can hear people coughing in the tent.

With the help of hundreds of Sherpa guides and support staff who have been stationed in the base camp since April, a total of 408 foreign climbers have obtained permits to climb Mount Everest this quarter.

Nepalese mountaineering officials deny that there are any active cases among climbers and support personnel in all base camps in the Himalayas this season. Due to the pandemic, climbing activities were closed last year.

Nepalese officials could not be immediately reached for comment on Saturday. The other mountaineering teams have not announced any COVID-19 infections among their members or staff. After being taken down from Everest Base Camp, multiple climbers reported that they tested positive.

Fortenbach said that most of the teams on the mountain did not carry virus testing tools, and before his team withdrew, they had helped with the tests and confirmed two cases.

Most people are still waiting in the camp before the summit attempt

Furtenbach said that most of the teams are still in the base camp and hope the weather will be clear next week so that they can make their final decision before the end of the mountaineering season at the end of the month.

In late April, a Norwegian climber became the first person to test positive at Everest Base Camp. He flew to Kathmandu by helicopter, received treatment there, and later returned home.

Nepal is experiencing a surge in the virus, with the number of new infections and deaths hitting a record high. China cancelled the climb from the Everest side last week because of concerns that the virus may spread from the Nepal side.

Nepal reported 8,607 new infections and 177 deaths last Friday. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Nepal’s total has exceeded 497,000 infections and 6,024 deaths.