[All] COVID-19 update

[Jared Hasen-Klein]

Hi all,

As mentioned on Wednesday, FIRST has been researching and addressing the global COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus) outbreak and its impact on FIRST events. Before going any further, I'll remind you as I did in my last email that I am not a medical professional, nor am I employed by or speaking on behalf of FIRST or any other third party.

Since the initial email, FIRST and its local affiliates have unfortunately had to cancel several events. FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) events which have been canceled or postponed (as of the time of writing this email) are:

• Auburn Mountainview (Wk. 2) - Washington, U.S.A.*
• Mt. Olive (Wk. 2) - New Jersey, U.S.A.*
• Science Park Taichung (Wk. 2) - Chinese Taipei/Taiwan
• Beijing Cultural Exchange 1 (Wk. 3) - Beijing, China
• Southern Cross (Wk. 3) - Sydney, Australia
•  NY Tech Valley (Wk. 3) - New York, U.S.A.
• Beijing Cultural Exchange 2 (Wk. 4) - Beijing, China
• Central NY (Wk. 4) - New York, U.S.A.
• South Pacific (Wk. 4) - Sydney, Australia
• Auburn (Wk. 5) - Washington, U.S.A.*

* = canceled. All other events listed above have been postponed to after the FIRST Championship.

For the teams going to these events, please understand that the information for how to proceed is not yet finalized. Keep reading and communicating with FIRST and local affiliates about their plans. There have been several FRC Blog posts about this, but nothing since all of these U.S.A. events have been canceled.

In addition to the FRC events listed above, FIRST LEGO League Jr., FIRST LEGO League, and FIRST Tech Challenge events may be impacted. Because these events are managed on a local level, it is best to inquire with your local partner if you are unsure of plans. Official social media pages are a great source, but unofficial pages and posts from individuals may have misinformation so it is always best to confirm with the source.

Hopefully no additional events will be canceled. If they are, however, this crowd-sourced list is keeping track of up-to-date information. So far, it has been pretty accurate but be sure to check the source link and read information for yourself before changing any plans. 

This situation is dynamic and new information is evolving rapidly. As I learn and confirm more details, I will share them with you. Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions, or if you have additional information about COVID-19 and FIRST. That being said, remember to contact FIRST and your local affiliate for official information and time sensitive matters.

I sincerely hope that you all stay healthy and safe and that we can continue to go about our business as close to "usual" as possible. I'm currently 2/3 of the way through an FRC event that I'm volunteering at and I hate to know that some will be deprived of the amazing experience this season. 

Best wishes,

Jared

[Jared Hasen-Klein]

Hello, everyone.

I hope you have all remained safe and healthy throughout the COVID-19 situation. There have been a few developments since the previous email.

First off, FIRST Headquarters have created a page with information about events impacted by COVID-19. That page is firstinspires.org/covid-19. This is the only official source of information from Headquarters. Please use this information, in conjunction with official information  provided by event organizers, when making decisions about your plans.

HQ has also published a list of known, impacted events. Note that since FIRST is generally not the one canceling events (venues and local agencies have been making the calls), the information there isn't always the fastest but it is the most accurate. That page is irstinspires.org/covid-19-event-updates.

Some additional events have also been canceled since the last email. The official list (as of the time of sending) is:

FIRST Robotics Competition 

• FMA Mount Olive (week 2) - cancelled

• All PNW events after week 2 - cancelled 

• Science Park Taichung Regional (week 2) - postponed 

• Beijing Cultural Exchange 1 (week 3) - postponed  

• New York Tech Valley Regional – (week 3) - postponed

• Southern Cross Regional (week 3) - postponed 

• Arizona North (week 3) - postponed

• FMA Springside Chestnut Hill Academy (week 3) - cancelled

• Beijing Cultural Exchange 2 (week 4) - postponed 

• Central New York Regional (week 4) - postponed 

• South Pacific (week 4) - postponed 

• SBPLI Long Island Regional 1 (week 4) - postponed

• San Francisco Regional (week 4) - postponed

• SBPLI Long Island Regional 2 (week 5) - postponed

• Silicon Valley (week 6) - postponed

FIRST Tech Challenge 

• Chongqing Qualifier - postponed 

• Excelsior Championship – postponed

• Qinghai Qualifier - postponed 

• Hong Kong Qualifiers and Championship - postponed 

• Shanghai Championship - postponed 

• Shandong Qualifier - postponed  

• UK Championship - cancelled

FIRST LEGO League 

• Central European Finals – cancelled 

• Hong Kong Robotics Tournament - postponed 

• Italy Championship - cancelled

• Japan Open Invitational – cancelled 

• Philippines Nationals – postponed 

• Turkey Final - postponed

• Vietnam Tournament – cancelled 

If your team has been impacted, it is strongly recommended that you communicate with your local organizers and FIRST HQ to determine next steps. 

Please feel free to reach out to me if you need anything. Looks like I'll now have some time on my hands this weekend, given event cancelations.

Best wishes,

Jared