Flight Taking U.S. Citizens Out of Wuhan, China Headed to Ontario [California] Airport Amid Coronavirus Concerns

ktla ^ | 01/28/2020

[Huskrrrr]

PING

[webheart]

The movie unfolds: A planeload of people infected with a deadly virus lands in California leading to an epidemic which wipes out hundreds of thousands of people who don’t have access to adequate health care insurance. The hero has only hours to track down Patient Zero, only to discover a secret biological warfare agent created by a hostile foreign power.

[webheart]

Sorry, the hero may not be male and might also be female but not necessarily either.

[webheart]

Oh I was thinking Ontario, California, not Ontario, Canada.

[Trump Girl Kit Cat]

There is NO WAY these people will be released into the general public they will remain under quarantine at the airport!!!

[blueplum]

The question is why does the state dept take a week to send a plane for these people?

that has to do with China. A week ago, we had 800 cases. Didn't seem critical. Then we figured out China was lying. Then, first China would allow planes into Wuhan, then no, then yes, then no. Then, no ground crews, now yes ground crews. Then which nation gets to fly in first? A complete mess. But it was all China.

[stanne]

“ . Then we figured out China was lying...”

You’re making the case. The state dept can be quite inept

[SgtHooper]

Fly ‘em in thru Mexico City!

[blueplum]

you’re missing the point. 800 cases and 10 deaths from a frigid winter was nothing to pull the fire alarm over. In America, we’ve had 5,000 deaths and 87,000 hospitalized from flu so far this year. Should we be quarantined?

[stanne]

The story is either:

We figured out China was lying (would still be lying)

Or:

We know everything we need to know about the the trajectory of this particular communicable disease, how it is spread, it’s symptoms, behavior, prognoses

You cannot have it both ways.

[DCBryan1]

Shemya island ,AK. Midway Islands, Johnston Atoll= great quarantines

[blueplum]

Rationalize all you want.

A week is damn fast for an evac flight to happen. The state dept has a lot of shortcomings, but in this instance, to criticize the speed of evacuation is just plain nitpicking.

Evacuation is not an easy process. You don’t just fly a plane into a closed airport on a moment’s notice and expect ATC support and a ground crew who have been quarantined to magically un-quarantine and magically be there to refuel and process passengers who just magically appear. All of it has to be coordinated. By human beings. Same as any other nation, we had to find our people, notice them, and coordinate responses to requests for assistance - including arranging ground transport to the airport. That was 2,000 telephone conversations minimum just to our people. A few thousand more to other nations and China to coordinate. 8 nations wanted to fly in at the same time. We got the number one slot. That wasn’t magic either. But it took a whole lot of manhours.

The fact remains, our first hint there was a problem in China was Jan 3 with the first release of the sequencing. Even so, we didn’t know the numbers because we had no significant data on the ‘novel’ virus until a week ago. The flight is boarded and in the air today, Jan 28. That in itself is amazing. Be happy.

[stanne]

You make a good point

Those people better go into quarantine

[Ancesthntr]

“Fly ‘em in thru Mexico City!”

---

While I understand the sentiments, that will only make things worse here (albeit a few days later, rather than right away). No, quarantine them ALL, and for at least 2 weeks (because the AVERAGE time to display symptoms is 2 weeks, not the outside edge of that envelope). Better to keep them for 30 days.

[blueplum]

Thanks, my FRiend.
And I strongly agree with you as to quarantine the lot. Alcatraz could start offering a 14-day all inclusive seaside vay-cay. Plenty of room there. And we also have Catalina Island - move over rich people - incoming! :)

[Jane Long]

I’ve been saying Alcatraz, for several days, now.

I think they’re going to take them to the Ontario/LA area, now. Catalina Island would be perfect ;-)

[Cvengr]

Take them to San Francisco, the sanctuary city where personal hygiene is similar to those in China, and Nancy Pelosi’s district.

In the interim, we used to have some desert isles in the Pacific for interim quarantine until their status was verified.

Else, take them back into the heart of DC and the beltway and let them hug and kiss the impeachment managers for their safekeeping.

[Varsity Flight]

And what about the plane and aircraft mechanics.