February 18 - Updates on COVID-19

CAMPUS SNAPSHOT

TODAY'S CAMPUS UPDATES

Breaking the chain of infection, one call at a time

UCI’s contact tracing program has helped control the coronavirus’s spread on campus and in surrounding areas. “For us, it has been less about the superspreader events that impacted other campuses early on and more about smaller gatherings and interactions,” says David Souleles, director of the campus’s COVID-19 response team.

New campus case*

One campus employee tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday. For more information, visit the UCI COVID-19 dashboard.

UCI COVID-19 NEWS AND EVENTS

UCI to help develop robots to protect healthcare workers, reduce isolation

Researchers at UCI, UC San Diego and UCLA have been awarded a $1.2 million grant to develop advanced robots that will allow healthcare workers to safely conduct remote exams and provide quarantined Californians a safe way to connect outside their homes.

Events

• Leading the Arts Through a Pandemic: Art’s M.F.A. Students, (Claire Trevor School of the Arts)

UC NEWS 

State funding restored for UC and Cal State

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a budget deal Wednesday that restores funding to both the University of California and the California State University Systems.

Symposium focuses on protecting America’s intellectual capital

UC’s systemwide Office of Ethics, Compliance and Audit Services convened the research security conference, in which more than 1,800 higher education leaders, federal law enforcement officials, the National Science Foundation and other funding agency representatives, policy experts and U.S. government staff engaged in a robust exchange on critical national issues.

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 officials reach deal on COVID relief

State lawmakers have worked out a multibillion-dollar COVID-19 relief package that will offer $600 payments to low-income families and undocumented immigrants as well as support for farmworkers and small businesses. 

Mass vaccination site at Anaheim Convention Center will be OC’s 3rd

Orange County plans to launch its third mass vaccination Super POD (point of dispensing) at the Anaheim Convention Center next week. Starting Wednesday, Feb. 24, the convention center will serve as both a COVID-19 testing and immunization site.

OC opens vaccination site at Santa Ana College

A new vaccination site at Santa Ana College that opened Wednesday aims to serve eligible residents in Anaheim, Garden Grove and Santa Ana neighborhoods that have seen some of the highest COVID-19 infection rates in the county and the largest numbers of people hospitalized or killed by the virus.

CDC recommends 5 key strategies to reopen schools

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released guidelines for reopening schools that focus on five key COVID-19 mitigation strategies: the universal and correct wearing of masks; physical distancing; washing hands; cleaning facilities and improving ventilation; and contact tracing, isolation and quarantine.

COVID-19 vaccination: Find out if it’s your turn

The California Department of Public Health urges all Californians to sign up for My Turn to be notified when you are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

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.

Self-taught baker, 27, launches cookie company devoted to charity

Batter that Matters, an online bakery focused on cookies, donates a portion of its profits to various charities.

#UCIconnected

If you have a shoutout, or if you’d like to share what you’ve been up to during the pandemic, send photos and/or words about your activities, workstation, volunteering, etc., to marketing@uci.edu or post on social media with the #UCIconnected hashtag.

EXPOSURE NOTIFICATION

* Potential workplace exposure: UCI provides this notification of a potential workplace COVID-19 exposure. Employees and subcontractors who were in these locations on the dates listed may have been exposed to the coronavirus. You may be entitled to various benefits under applicable federal and state laws and University-specific policies and agreements. The full notification is available on the UCI Forward site. If you have been identified as a close contact to a COVID-19 case, the UCI Contact Tracing Program will contact you and provide additional direction.