September 21 - Updates on COVID-19

CAMPUS SNAPSHOT

Where’s your beak mask, birdy? Photo by Steve Zylius/UCI

TODAY’S CAMPUS UPDATES

A clean bill of health in Round 1 of student virus tests

The results are in from UCI’s first round of mandatory COVID-19 testing for students living in campus housing. Nobody tested positive for the virus. But that doesn’t mean the coast is clear. The tests only cover a single point in time and will be repeated on a regular basis as on-campus operations resume. For students moving into campus housing this week, testing begins tomorrow. For more information, visit https://uci.edu/coronavirus/students/testing.php.

Reader survey: Give your feedback on this newsletter

Which sections do you like/dislike? What content would you like to see added? Help us improve the UCI Forward (aka Daily COVID Update) newsletter by taking a quick, 7-question survey.

Introducing: UCI’s new COVID case count dashboard

Gearing up for the fall quarter, UCI has unveiled a new, more comprehensive data dashboard that tracks COVID-19 testing, positivity rates and cases among students, faculty and staff on campus.

Internet outage scheduled for tonight

UCI’s Office of Information Technology is doubling internet bandwidth for on-campus students, which requires shutting down the network from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m. The upgrade outage will not affect Lightpath or esports networks, but will affect VPN connections, UCI Medical Center and wired and wireless service for campus and residential housing.

UCI COVID-19 NEWS AND EVENTS

UCI ranked No. 2 for diversity by Wall Street Journal

Public universities may not dominate the top of The Wall Street Journal/Times Higher Education College Rankings, but they shine when it comes to campus diversity. For campus environment, UCI placed second in the nation, tied with Cal State Northridge. (La Sierra University in Riverside was No. 1.)

Remote Work with Children at Home

Improve your ability to work from home with kids in the house by watching UCI’s next Working Well Remotely Webinar. The Zoom event will take place Tuesday from noon to 12:50 p.m.

HOPE, INSPIRATION, LAUGHTER

Amid the heartbreaking loss of life and economic hardship wrought by the coronavirus, we recognize the need for stories of kindness, hope, courage and humor.

Paul Rudd’s ‘millennial mask’ PSA

The actor humorously tries to appeal to a younger audience in this video, which is part of a campaign promoting COVID safety. Other PSAs feature Jason from “Friday the 13th” and mask habits in the 1918 flu pandemic.

GENERAL COVID-19 NEWS

This section curates noteworthy coronavirus news, trends and opinions. No endorsement by UCI is implied. Note: Some news sites require subscriptions to read articles. The UCI Libraries offer free subscriptions to The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and OC Register for students, faculty and staff

These nations crushed COVID, but now are worse than the U.S.

Israel, Spain and France fought the virus into abatement early on with tough measures that won international praise. But their infection rates have now shot past America’s, demonstrating the difficulty of keeping COVID-19 at bay.

Pandemic isolation has killed thousands of dementia patients

In recent months, doctors have reported increased falls, pulmonary infections, depression and sudden frailty in patients who had been stable for years.

Do eyeglasses protect people from COVID-19?

After researchers noticed fewer nearsighted patients in a Chinese hospital ward, they speculated that wearing glasses might help ward off coronavirus infections.

UCSD trying to avoid virus chaos that upended San Diego State

San Diego State University is reeling from an outbreak of COVID-19. Is the same thing about to happen at UC San Diego? The answer will emerge as 7,500 undergraduates start moving into meticulously cleaned dorms.

U.S. extends travel restrictions with Canada and Mexico

Acting U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Mark Morgan said travel restrictions along the United States’ shared border with Canada and Mexico have been extended through Oct. 21.

Cal/OSHA to create emergency COVID workplace safety rules

A seven-member board appointed by Gov. Newsom unanimously decided to begin creating standards that require employees to take stricter precautions against COVID-19.

Irvine Unified teachers push for delay in reopening schools

An open letter by district teachers, which had over 2,000 signatures as of Friday, urges Irvine Unified to delay the return to campus until next semester.

A glossary of pandemic words and phrases

The Orange County Register has compiled a pandemic glossary of words and terms that have entered our daily lexicon, from asymptomatic to underlying conditions.

Orange County COVID hospitalizations keep falling

Yesterday, Orange County reported 190 new cases of COVID-19 and one new death. Hospitalizations dropped from 202 to 194 on Saturday, and patients in the ICU remained at 65.