As the second wave of the novel coronavirus batters Nepal, the country has asked climbers on Mount Everest to bring back their empty oxygen tanks instead of abandoning them on mountain slopes.
Nepal issued climbing permits to more than 700 climbers for the April-May climbing season to revive the Covid hit mountaineering and tourism industry.
The Mountaineering Association has asked the climbers to help Nepal deal with a surge in Covid-19 cases that has brought the country's fragile healthcare system to breaking point.
On Sunday, Nepal reported a daily increase of 8,777 infections, 30 times the number recorded on April 9.