Originally Posted by
STS-134
Yikes.
And regardless of tradition, what they've done is basically the equivalent of having a bonfire and fireworks party after the National Weather Service has issued an extreme red flag warning.
Looks like there was plenty of time to cancel or reschedule the banquet.
Timeline
31 December 2019
The World Health Organization (WHO) is alerted by the Chinese authorities of a string of pneumonia-like cases in Wuhan, a city of 11 million people.
Patients are quarantined and work begins on identifying the origin of the pneumonia.
1 January 2020
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identifies a seafood market suspected to be at the centre of the outbreak and it is closed down.
What is coronavirus and how worried should we be?
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9 January
The WHO says the outbreak in Wuhan was caused by a previously unknown type of coronavirus, a broad family ranging from the common cold to more serious illnesses like severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars).
11 January
The Chinese health authorities report the
first fatality as a 61-year-old man dies from pneumonia in Wuhan. They revise downwards the number of sick people to 41.
13 January
The virus spreads beyond China’s borders for the first time with a case emerging in Thailand, according to the WHO. The victim is a Chinese woman diagnosed with mild pneumonia who was returning from a trip to Wuhan.
15 January
China’s health commission says it cannot confirm human-to-human transmission of the virus but the possibility “cannot be excluded”. The next day a first case of the virus is confirmed in Japan in someone who had stayed in Wuhan in early January.
17 January
A second person, a 69-year-old man, dies in Wuhan, according to authorities. The same day, the CDC announces that it will begin screening passengers arriving from Wuhan at three airports: San Francisco, New York’s JFK and Los Angeles.
18 January Wuhan Banquet