JANUARY 2020 brought world’s attention to the deadly & highly infectious COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS which originated from China evidently from December 2019 and by March 2020 WHO (World Health Organisation) declared it a Pandemic which basically means a global epidemic after thousands of cases of covid-19 coronavirus infection emerged from more than 100 countries.
From there on every passing day is bringing up new cases of corona infection along with new restrictions & precautionary measures that are being taken by different governments to fight it.
Inevitably Himalayas are also affected because of this and by the time we are writing this almost all of it is under lockdown for any kind of foreign tourism activity and encouraging very limited domestic tourism activity with most of the stay options closed till at least March 31 2020.

Home to around 52.7 million people Himalayas or Himalaya Mountains are spread across five countries: India, China, Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan. Below we are summarising the confirmed cases, deaths, precautionary measures & decisions related to tourism taken by different governments controlling different sections of the Himalayas upon the outbreak of Corona virus.

INDIA   

India which claims the major portion of the Himalayas has it subdivided in 6 different states and union territories named as Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. Each one of them has separate government controlling the area except Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh which are controlled directly by the central government of India. Central government of India has already barred entry of all foreigners in India along with suspension of current visas effective from March 13 2020 till April 15 2020 after which they will asses the situation and decide if ban need to be extended details of which can be checked by clicking here
In an effort to consolidate it all we are disclosing the most recent updates of confirmed cases and restrictions imposed on tourism activities in all of the Indian Himalayan states one by one below.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

As per the update on March 16 2020 via a tweet from Rohit Kansal, Principal Secretary of Planning Development & Monitoring Department in Jammu and Kashmir administration, there are three confirmed cases of Novel Coronavirus positive persons till now.
As far as tourism restrictions are concerned only domestic tourists (Indians living in India) are allowed to travel in Jammu & Kashmir till April 15 2020 while many hotels have themselves shut down till month of April 2020.

LADAKH

As per the update on March 17 2020 from Ladakh UT administration, seven cases has been confirmed positive for Corona virus infection. As a matter of fact all tourism activity is almost at halt after the declaration on March 13 2020 via a letter as per which no ILP (Inner line permit) ,which is necessary for even domestic tourists to travel beyond Leh the headquarter town of Ladakh, will be issued until further notice. Hence all sort of tourists are banned except Leh city in Ladakh.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

There has been no confirmed positive corona case in Himachal Pradesh till now. Though domestic tourists are allowed to travel in to the state still tourism activity in all of Himachal Pradesh is almost at halt with many home stays and hotels across the state shut their-self down till April 15 2020 by a self initiated precautionary measure to fight Corona virus.However there is no as such official ban on entry of tourists in Himachal Pradesh.

UTTRAKHAND

There has been one confirmed case in Uttrakhand found positive to Novel Coronavirus. Tourism activity in parts of Uttrakhand is still on with mostly religious purpose, however an advisory has been issued to all stay owners by government of Uttrakhand to be fully aware about the symptoms of  covid-19 novel coronavirus and to inform them in case any tourist showing such symptoms. However there is no as such official ban on entry of tourists in Uttrakhand.

SIKKIM

There has been no confirmed positive corona case in Sikkim till now. However entry of foreigners is totally ban in Sikkim until further Notice, few parts like North Sikkim, Pelling, Namchi, Nathu La, Baba Mandir, Tsomogo Lake are even closed for domestic tourists until further notice and no permits are being issued.

ARUNACHAL PRADESH

There has been no confirmed positive corona case in Arunachal Pradesh till now. Government has stopped issuing permits (PAP) to foreigners, domestic tourists however are still allowed to enter the state till now.

CHINA  

China being the origin of Covid-19 Coronavirus has been the worst hit country till now having 80,894 confirmed infected cases and 3237 deaths till now. China claims Tibet as the arguable part of the Himalayas headquartering at Lhasa which is governed by TAR (Tibet Autonomous Region) authorities. Bordering with Nepal, Pakistan and India, TAR claimed to have only one confirmed case till now who has been cured on February 14 2020 itself, no deaths are reported yet due to coronavirus
However due to the impact of the novel Coronavirus in China, the processing of Tibet Travel Permit was temporarily suspended by Tibet Tourism and Development Bureau since Jan 27, 2020 for all mainland china tourists and foreigners until further notice.

PAKISTAN

Having very active road borders with highly Corona infected countries like China and Iran, Pakistan too is affected by the virus with confirmed toll of infected patients as 195 as of now along with one death due to covid-19 novel coronavirus.
The Himalaya is spread across three of Pakistan’s provinces. The Northern area encompasses the Nanga Parbat massif and her surrounding valleys, Azad Jammu & Kashmir and extreme south-east corner of the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) include portions of the Lesser Himalaya, also known as the Middle Himalaya. Entry of all sort of foreigners is banned in all Himalayan regions of Pakistan until further notice.

NEPAL  

Hosting some of the highest peaks of the Himalayas including the world’s highest peak the ‘Mount Everest’, Nepal is the hub for hikers and mountain lovers from around the world. Sharing it’s borders with India, China and Bhutan Nepal has also been hit by Covid-19 novel coronavirus with one confirmed case found positive for coronavirus on January 24 2020 who has been cured.Nepal cancelled its international promotional activities related to Visit Nepal Year 2020.
On 12 March, Nepal government decided to suspend on-arrival tourist visa for all countries with an exception to diplomatic and official visas. In case of emergency, the foreign nationals are to apply for visa with a submission of health certificate indicating no infection of the novel Coronavirus. This suspension is to last from 14 March till 30 April. The government has also restricted travel to and from India via land routes and canceled all spring mountain climbing expeditions including Mount Everest until 30 April from 14 March.

BHUTAN   

The land of happiness BHUTAN which claims itself to be the only complete Himalayan country also share it’s borders with Nepal, India and China. On 6 March 2020, Bhutan confirmed its first COVID-19 case, a 76-year-old US male who travelled to the country via India. Around 90 people who came directly in contact with him, along with his 59-year-old wife, driver, and guide were quarantined. Bhutan immediately restricted entry of foreign tourists for two weeks (till March 31 2020) both via air and road.