#WWSEF2020 The COVID-19 situation is growing in complexity and concern and there have been a number of announcements today that have a significant impact on large gatherings such as regional science fairs. Québec premier François Legault announced that organizers of indoor events that attract more than 250 people are ordered to cancel them. In response, all regional science fairs in the province have been cancelled. Alberta's Chief Medical Officer of Health issued a statement that included, “effective immediately, we are asking all large gatherings or international events in the province to be cancelled and advising Albertans against travel outside of the country. By “mass gathering”, we mean any mass gatherings of more than 250 people. This includes large sporting events, conferences and community events.” This puts the Canada-Wide Science Fair in jeopardy and we are expecting it to be cancelled. Locally, the University of Waterloo has announced that "We are suspending all events that are not vital to the academic mission of the University. This means that you should cancel, postpone or move online all events of more than 50 people". The university is our single largest source of judges for the Fair and they will not be able to attend. Several companies in town which also provide judges have imposed similar moratoriums on staff attending large events. As a result of these and other factors it has been decided, along with many of the other regional science fairs in the province, to cancel the Waterloo-Wellington Science and Engineering Fair for 2020. We know this is very disappointing but it is done in recognition that we would not be able to run an event that would be of value to the students and in the best interest of the health and safety of everyone involved. For students that have already submitted registration fees or have already placed them in the mail, arrangements will be made to return them to the students. https://www.instagram.com/p/B9sPZU4JkCx/?igshid=u1f55f4h06rg
