Kathmandu, May 6 -- Nepal'sspring mountaineering season,just recovering fromavalanches,earthquakes,and ayear of Covid-19 lockdownis once more looking uncertain with reports of coronavirus cases at the base camps of Mt Everest and Dhaulagiri.

The Nepal government has tried to keep a tight lid on information from the mountains, but hospital and expedition sources confirm that there have been at least a dozen sick climbers who had been helicoptered from the base of Mt Everest who had tested positive at hospitals in Kathmandu. Twenty climbers were evacuated from Dhaulagiri, five of them on Thursday, after testing positive in antigen tests at base camp.

"The breakout up in the mountains must be monitored but we have to look at this against t...