Now, unless you’ve been living under a rock, whether it is literal or figurative, you’ve probably heard of this little virus called Covid-19. It’s caused probably the most cancellations around the US and the world. For everyone out there, stay safe and wash your hands!

For spelling, this means a lot. Around the country, spelling bee- from regionals to counties- have been overwhelmingly postponed. A lot of these dates have moved to Early March or Late April (I’ll try to get a comprehensive list but you all should hopefully know by now)

It is slightly worrying for the 2020 Spelling Bee season but I think that there is a decent chance that Scripps will be postponed (hello, at the very minimum 200+ people in a room for a round? I don’t think so). Hopefully that will lead to a postponement and not a cancellation but as many other comparable competitions including but not limited to Geo Bee, Science Olympiad and much more have chosen to do.

It definitely doesn’t feel nice to not be able to show off all the hard work we’ve put in throughout the year but it is important to remember that everyone’s health does come first.

The update on the Scripps official page for Covid-19 is a little outdated as gatherings over 10 are now not recommended. I will be keeping an eye on the situation.

Updates (As of March 16th) : The Bee and The E.W. Scripps Company are closely monitoring the recommendations of local, state and federal agencies regarding COVID-19. While many final local spelling bees have already been completed, those still outstanding will most likely be postponed based on current guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding cancellation of events of 50 or more people over the next eight weeks. We are in the process of determining what impact these latest guidelines will have on the national finals scheduled for May.