Here is the email that went out today;

We have made a final decision to postpone the 2020 Pan-American Championships
and Pan-Americans. Currently the FAI/CIVL would not allow us to run the
Pan-American Championships in 2021 as it would conflict with the 2021 World
Championships, whose organizers refuse to move their competition to 2022. How
this will be resolved finally is uncertain, just like everything else. So we
currently are required to postpone to 2022.

Why have we made this decision?

First, the situation in Texas:

1) We are aware of the fact that at the moment Howard County has only four
confirmed cases of covid-19 with one death (the first confirmed case), but Texas
has 28,087 with 782 deaths (Thursday evening).

2) The number of new cases in Texas each day is not decreasing (which is a
requirement to "open up" the state).

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html

3) Texas recorded a record number of deaths for one day - 50 on Thursday, as it
prepares to re-open on Friday.

https://www.statesman.com/news/20200430/texas-coronavirus-cases-deaths-surge-as-businesses-prepare-to-reopen

4) We do not know if Texas will meet its benchmarks to allow the state to
"re-open."

https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/1d486f159188580f63312da128be4db1/OpenTexas-Report.pdf

5) They are not meeting the US Guidelines.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/context/president-trump-s-proposed-guidelines-for-relaxing-social-distancing-guidance/b7768600-7906-408c-89a3-06fd5a47aa26/?itid=lk_inline_manual_3&itid=lk_inline_manual_4

So the situation in Texas is uncertain, although the pandemic is not affecting
Howard County greatly. It is unclear what the state government will do regarding
restrictions by August.

It is difficult to travel to Midland-Odessa, to Texas, to the US from overseas.

1) Quarantines:

"Governor Abbott mandates a 14-day self-quarantine for air travelers from NY,
NJ, CT and New Orleans. That Executive Order is expanded to air travelers from
additional hotspot locations, California, Louisiana, Washington, Atlanta,
Chicago, Detroit and Miami, and to travel by car from Louisiana."

2) Regarding airline travel, the CDC states:

"Travel Recommendations

Cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have been reported in all states, and
some areas are experiencing community spread of the disease. Travel increases
your chances of getting and spreading COVID-19.

CDC recommends you stay home as much as possible, especially if your trip is not
essential, and practice social distancing especially if you are at higher risk
of severe illness. Don’t travel if you are sick or travel with someone who is
sick."

3) Both international and domestic airline travel has been severely impacted and
we are uncertain about whether pilots would be able to travel to Midland-Odessa,
especially from Latin America.

4) CDC recommendation for international travel:

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/after-travel-precautions.htm
l

Stay home for 14 days from the time you returned home from international
travel.

This would seem to be applicable to international travelers coming to the US
also.

5) Travelers coming from Brazil, Ecuador and other Latin American countries may
be coming from covid-19 "hot spots." Therefore they could be bringing the virus
to Big Spring.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/05/01/brazils-bolsonaro-sits-ticking-coronavirus-time-bomb/

Again we do not know what restrictions will be in place the first week of
August, but this level of uncertainty makes planing difficult.

As a member of USA Cycling we have watched what that organization has done with
its national competitions. All the National Championships (they have 14) through
August are likely to be postponed, have been postponed or canceled.

We are open to suggestions about what to do about a competition in Big Spring in
2021.We are willing to provide substantial assistance to anyone choosing to
organize a 2021 Big Spring Nationals (apply to the USHPA early October, 2020).

Someone may be willing to organize a competition in Big Spring this year. We are
willing to assist them.

Thanks for your support for the Pan-Americans and the competitions in Big
Spring. We had hoped for better news, but we'll just have to wait and see what
becomes feasible in the future.