December 8 - Updates on COVID-19
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A student studies on a bench overlooking Aldrich Park. Photo by Steve Zylius/UCI.
TODAY’S CAMPUS UPDATES
Practice safe online shopping this holiday season
Due to COVID-19 many of us are conducting our holiday shopping online this year. The holiday season is an important time to be aware and alert to cybersecurity threats and attacks. OIT shares some helpful online shopping tips that can protect you, your purchases, and your identity when shopping online.
New cases
There were 13 new positive cases (12 students and one employee) reported over the weekend, and two new cases (one student, one employee) reported yesterday. Visit the UCI dashboard to see active case count numbers, recovery counts and other information.
UCI COVID-19 NEWS AND EVENT
The future of teaching
The seismic, pandemic-induced shift to remote instruction created unprecedented logistical and technical challenges with effects on teachers, students, parents, public and private school systems, and institutions of higher learning that have yet to be fully determined. UCI’s School of Education has responded in a variety of meaningful ways to help communities in Orange County and beyond move past these challenges.
UCI researchers develop rapid antibody generation technology
Using the same strain of yeast that ferments wine and makes dough rise, a team led by UCI and Harvard Medical School researchers has developed an in vitro technology that can rapidly hypermutate antibodies. The new technology generates antibodies faster than animal immune systems and better than current synthetic methods, giving researchers the tools for evolving exceptionally potent agents, including therapeutic candidates that target SARS-CoV-2.
Pacific Symphony working with UCI public health experts on COVID-19 plan
UCI experts conducted a walk-through at Pacific Symphony’s concert hall and provided online training about the spread of infectious diseases and the best mitigation practices. The training included several Q&A sessions with remote attendees, and a recording is available for Pacific Symphony to share with employees. The university team also created templates so that Pacific Symphony can establish procedures for staff screening, symptom and temperature checks, staff self-monitoring, physical distancing, hand hygiene and masking.
UCI Podcast: COVID-19’s long-term economic and health impacts
Vellore Arthi, an assistant professor of economics at UCI, has examined the long-term health and economic consequences of previous pandemics and financial crises, including the Black Death of the 14th century, the 1918 influenza pandemic and the Great Depression of the 1930s. In this episode of the UCI Podcast, Arthi discusses what these previous pandemics and downturns can teach us about today’s crisis — and how we can prevent the worst results.
Upcoming events
- COVID-19 and Our Campus, Thursday, 12:30 p.m., sponsored by the Program in Public Health
UC NEWS
COVID-19 exposure notification system expands statewide; University of California to lead roll out effort
The State of California has asked the University of California to lead an expansion of a smartphone-based COVID-19 exposure notification system recently tested at seven University of California campuses. The notification system, called CA Notify which will officially launch on December 10, enables individuals who opt-in to the program to receive automatic smartphone notifications if the user has high-risk exposure to other enrolled users who are diagnosed with COVID-19.
California’s Institutes for Science and Innovation celebrate 20 years of research and discovery
In December 2000, Gov. Gray Davis created four UC-based California Institutes of Science and Innovation (Cal ISI) to support interdisciplinary research in fields that were critical to the state’s economic future: Biomedicine, bioengineering, nanosystems, telecommunications and information technology. Known collectively as the Cal ISIs, they have helped California remain a leader in clean technologies, next-generation therapeutics, cutting-edge biomaterials and more over the last two decades.
3 UC campuses accepting applications through Dec. 15
Merced, Riverside and Santa Cruz are still accepting freshman and transfer applications through Dec. 15.
The UCDC experience reimagined from your computer
UCDC adapted and is up and running, welcoming nearly 75 students from UC’s nine undergraduate campuses to the world of remote UCDC: A program that provides enriching academic opportunities in the form of a professional development speaker series, in-depth coursework, and at the heart of the program, meaningful internships — all with a focus on the Washington, D.C., experience.
UC celebrates court order to restore DACA program
University of California President Michael V. Drake, M.D., and Board of Regents Chair John A. Pérez, issued this statement following Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis’s decision to order the full reinstatement of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.
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.
California receiving 2 million vaccines this month
The state expects to receive a little more than two million doses of the vaccine this month between distributions from the pharmaceutical company, Pfizer, and biotechnology maker, Moderna., which could vaccinate nearly half of the state’s 2.4 million healthcare workers.
CA state officials walk back grocery store limits
Officials issued an addendum allowing grocery stores to operate at 35% capacity — down from 50% capacity, which has been in effect statewide since the beginning of the pandemic, but up from 20% in the latest state-ordered restrictions.
Pandemic-proof your habits
People are still longing for their old routines - get some new ones instead. The key to coping during this, or any, time of upheaval is to quickly establish new routines so that, even if the world is uncertain, there are still things you can count on.
Trump officials push ambitious vaccine timeline as California locks down
The Trump administration’s top health officials outlined an ambitious timetable for distributing the first coronavirus vaccinations to as many as 24 million people by mid-January.
Newsom appoints new public health director from San Francisco
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that San Francisco Health Officer Tomás J. Aragón has been chosen to lead the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).
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.
Yes, this is a real (and extremely cool) Marvel Comics edition, and it celebrates all of the health care workers who have done so much during the pandemic. Marvel created the True Nurse Stories comic book in collaboration with Pennsylvania-based Allegheny Health Network, and it focuses on true stories of nurses and their heroism.