Friday, February 21, 2020

Beijing, February 21: "The WHO-led team of international experts in China will travel to coronavirus epicenter city of Wuhan on Saturday and investigate the outbreak"

Huh.
That's from Global Times' 'Coronavirus updates'

It's been 32 days since the Chinese started coming clean on the coronavirus, eight weeks since the first warnings that something was up and just now the World Health Organization is getting ready to go to Wuhan?
I am reminded of this report immediately following the killer tsunami in 2004:
     ...WFP (World Food Program) has "arrived"
in the capital with an "assessment and coordination team." The
following is no joke; no Diplomad attempt to be funny or clever:
The team has spent the day and will likely spend a few more setting
up their "coordination and opcenter" at a local five-star hotel.
And their number one concern, even before phones, fax and copy
machines? Arranging for the hotel to provide 24hr catering service.
USAID folks already are cracking jokes about "The UN Sheraton."
Meanwhile, our military and civilians, working with the super
Aussies, continue to keep the C-130 air bridge of supplies flowing
and the choppers flying, and keep on saving lives -- and without
24hr catering services from any five-star hotel . . . . The
contrast grows more stark every minute.
—Diplomad via Volokh Conspiracy, link rotted
Alternative source

As noted at the time:
 
The American and Royal Australian Navies were actually saving lives:
[don't forget the Singaporean helicopter pilots shuttling to the carrier and Mercy 24/7]

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/US_Navy_050103-N-4166B-237_Lt._Jody_Weinstein_helps_an_injured_Indonesian_woman_into_a_medical_evacuation_vehicle_after_she_was_transported_from_a_coastal_village_on_the_island_of_Sumatra%2C_Indonesia.jpg
Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia (Jan. 3, 2005) - Lt. Jody Weinstein helps an injured Indonesian woman into a medical evacuation vehicle after she was transported from a coastal village on the island of Sumatra, Indonesia. Medical teams from USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), Carrier Air Wing Two (CVW-2) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) set-up a triage site located on Sultan Iskandar Muda Air Force Base, in Banda Aceh, Sumatra. The two teams worked together with members of the Australian Air Force to provide initial medical care to victims of the Tsunami-stricken coastal regions. The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group is currently operating in the Indian Ocean off the waters of Indonesia and Thailand. U.S. Navy photo by Photographers Mate Airman Jordon R. Beesley (RELEASED)

In all, the American Task Force numbered more than twenty ships, headed up by the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72 or "Abe"):

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/US_Navy_050203-N-6020P-137_The_Military_Sealift_Command_%28MSC%29_hospital_ship_USNS_Mercy_%28T-AH_19%29_navigates_alongside_USS_Abraham_Lincoln_%28CVN_72%29_after_arriving_on_station_near_Banda_Aceh%2C_Sumatra%2C_Indonesia.jpg
USS Abraham Lincoln follows hospital ship USNS Mercy to station near
Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia
The USS Abraham Lincoln follows the Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy after arriving on station near Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia, Feb. 3, 2005. The Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group has been operating in the Indian Ocean off the waters of Indonesia in support of Operation Unified Assistance, the humanitarian relief effort to aid the victims of the tsunami.
-U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Gabriel R. Piper
I don't have much time for self-appointed "elites".