UCI Forward

UCI Forward is our commitment to the well-being of our community as we ramp up campus operations. Working together, each of us doing our part, we can move UCI Forward.

March 8 - Updates on COVID-19

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CAMPUS SNAPSHOT

Tree in front of McGaugh Hall

A spring palette takes shape at McGaugh Hall. Photo by Steve Zylius/UCI

TODAY'S CAMPUS UPDATES

One new campus case over weekend*

One student resident and no campus employees tested positive for COVID-19 from Friday through Sunday. For more information, visit the UCI COVID-19 dashboard.

UCI COVID-19 NEWS AND EVENTS

UCI infectious diseases chief discusses vaccines

A Q&A with Dr. Donald Forthal, who heads the School of Medicine’s Division of Infectious Diseases.

Last call for your COVID anniversary stories

Beginning Thursday, the one-year anniversary of COVID being declared a global pandemic, we’ll publish a series of your most memorable coronavirus-era stories. Please send memories and/or photos to marketing@uci.edu or post on social media with the #UCIconnected hashtag.

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.

CDC loosens rules for fully vaccinated people

The new guidance offers vaccinated Americans more freedom to socialize and pursue routine daily activities, including indoor visits with unvaccinated members of a single household at low risk of severe disease, without wearing masks or distancing.

California OKs reopening of ballparks, Disneyland

California has once again changed its COVID restrictions, clearing a path for fans to hit the stands at opening-day baseball games and return to Disneyland and other amusement parks next month. Capacities will be limited.

Volunteering at a clinic could get you a vaccine

California launched a new program that gives residents the opportunity to get vaccinated by volunteering to help get others inoculated at sites across the state.

NYC high schools to reopen March 22

While many California schools remain shuttered, high schools in New York City, the nation’s largest public school system, are scheduled to resume in-person instruction in two weeks. In contrast, Los Angeles stands alone among the nation’s 10 largest school systems as the only one that has yet to resume in-person teaching for significant numbers of students.

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.

Balloon animals like you’ve never seen

A former chemical engineer in Japan pushes the boundaries of balloon art, creating elaborate bees, lemurs, bulls and other critters.

Voice coach teaches metal bands how to scream safely

“What metal singers do wrong is use an emotional response that feels like anger, or anxiety, in order to make the sound,” the coach says. “I use my acting training to imitate it, and my know-how vocally to do it in a way that could be healthy.”

#UCIconnected

Artwork from

With support from UCI Student Affairs, student Karishma Muthukumar, who is UCI’s Dalai Lama scholar and a Barnes & Noble College Scholar, led a campuswide call for letters of support to UCI students. The initiative was part of The All-truism project, and more letters can be found on Instagram. All-truism (“we can all be true”) is a new project supported by the Barnes & Noble Scholarship that aims to create connections through community, compassion and the creative arts.


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.