May 1 - Updates on COVID-19

UCI UPDATES

New virtual event services for UCI faculty and staff

Student Center & Event Services is stepping up to provide the best platform available for bringing the UCI community together. New products and online activities are provided as a service to our community members in support of shared social, recreational, educational and cultural pursuits.

Special call for applications: COVID-19-Related Community-Engaged Research

The Institute for Clinical & Translational Science through the Campus-Community Research Incubator Grant Program is issuing a call for applications for COVID-19-related community-engaged research. The application deadline is June 1, 2020. The Campus-Community Research Incubator Program (CCRI) is a small funding mechanism designed to foster collaborative research-oriented projects between university researchers and community organizations. Potential applicants are encouraged to attend a workshop on general application preparation. Registration is required.

How to prevent Zoombombing

In an effort to prevent Zoombombing incidents, a new resource has been created to help hosts ensure that Zoom meetings, events and classes are configured correctly, preventing disruption from bad actors seeking to post inappropriate content or harass participants. Nearly all Zoombombing incidents can be prevented with Zoom settings configured appropriately for the meeting format. UCI TechPrep posted expanded guidance to prevent Zoombombing in classes and public meetings.

UCI libraries continue remote services

Although the library’s physical doors are closed temporarily, the library staff continue to provide the resources our students, faculty, and researchers need in support of their studies and world-class research. And the staff are hard at work on plans for a phased reopening when it is safe to do so.

Barclay Theater schedule

Per state, federal, and local guidelines the Barclay has cancelled events until at least August 31st.

UCI COVID-19 NEWS AND STORIES

UCI physicians and local fabric cutting business team up to produce new type of mask

UCI Health physicians and a local fabric cutting business are working together to produce thousands of face masks for hospital workers from a material used to sterilize surgical equipment. Dr. Aditi Sharma, a resident physician in the UCI Health dermatology department, said the sterilization wraps can be used in masks that filter up to 87% of particles, which is almost as effective as N95 masks, which have a filtration efficiency of 95%.

UCI Podcast: Mental health and home self-isolation

Jesse Borelli is an associate professor of psychological science at UCI, and she studies the links between close relationships, emotions, health and development, with a particular focus on risk for anxiety and depression. In this special UCI Podcast, she discusses how to stay safe and sane during social distancing.

Social distancing lessons from the past

It is important to understand that social distancing is not only helpful for reducing transmission, but also for delaying the peak infection rate. Social distancing or physical distancing is simply a community effort to reduce physical distance and meeting in socially dense settings. This public health intervention was observed and documented in the United Kingdom as a reactive human behavioral response during the 1918 influenza pandemic. This measure was also put into action by American cities during the same pandemic, which revealed how physical distancing and isolation influenced the transmission of disease.

Coronavirus pandemic challenges nursing students

The coronavirus pandemic has upended life for everyone. Nursing students are no exception. Thousands of third- and fourth-year nursing students are learning to navigate unexpected curriculum changes, financial pressures and getting the required clinical hours they need to graduate and become licensed. As soon as California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a stay-at-home order, in-person classes and in-clinic work for nursing students were canceled. Everyone was instructed to head home and learning went online. Now people such as third-year nursing student Kelley Cowan wonder what’s next.

UCI Law continues to raise the bar in remote and online instruction during COVID-19

An unexpected need arose in March with the COVID-19 global pandemic, when in just a matter of days UCI Law faculty members faced the difficult task of creating virtual classrooms and carrying out teaching, supervision, and client representation responsibilities remotely. Originally planning for a phased-in approach, some faculty members had been testing out a few class sessions with complete remote instruction to see if they had any issues that could be shared with the rest of the team. As UCI Law started the phased-in approach, CA Governor Gavin Newsom issued a stay at home order and the timeline was quickly accelerated to move all faculty to remote instruction in a matter of days.

UC UPDATES

UC president Napolitano sees mix of online, classroom instruction in fall

University of California President Janet Napolitano said that none of the UC’s campuses is likely to fully re-open in time for the fall term due to the coronavirus pandemic. She mentioned that some of the campuses are exploring a mix, where some material will be delivered in a classroom or lab setting, and other classes will continue to be online.

COMMUNITY UPDATES & NEWS

CDC releases reopening guidelines

The CDC released a 17-page document with reopening guidelines. The document details interim guidelines on how businesses, schools, churches, mass transit and other organizations should handle safely reopening amid the pandemic.

Experts predict COVID-19 will spread for 18 months to two years

A team of pandemic experts predict the coronavirus will continue to spread for at least another 18 months to two years. At this rate, they also believe 60% to 70% of the population would be infected.

Cybercriminals adapt to the pandemic faster than the A.I. cops hunting them

The international law enforcement agencies Interpol and Europol both warned of a spike in fraud related to the pandemic, with tactics involving everything from COVID-19-themed phishing emails to sales of phony coronavirus test kits and fake PPE. Hackers have seen an opportunity too, attacking hospitals with ransomware just when they can least afford to have their computer systems fail.

Twitter makes it easier for researchers to see real-time COVID-19 tweets

In an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19 misinformation and help people and organizations trying to better understand the current crisis, Twitter Inc. announced that it’s opening up the platform to approved developers and researchers. Now, approved experts or organizations will have access to tens of millions of COVID-19-related daily tweets in many languages, said the company, saying it’s an unprecedented move for an unprecedented crisis. Researchers will be able not only to look at how misinformation related to the spreads and how people react to that information, but they can also see more clearly where the disease is spreading.

Major airlines require travelers to wear masks

American Airlines, Jet Blue, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines, Frontier and Delta have all separately announced they will require their passengers to wear face masks. These new requirements will roll out starting as early as May 4 for some airlines.

California launches child-care web portal

California launched a web portal – MyChildCare.ca.gov – for parents working essential jobs to access child care facilities, including a number of new pop-up facilities across the state.

Governor Newsom orders hard closure of Orange County beaches

All beaches along Orange County’s 42 miles of coast are officially closed starting today. The hard closure announced by Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday, April 30, came after concerns that too many people had visited last weekend. Newsom noted that Orange County is in the top three or four communities in terms of hospitalizations and it’s hard to track where people could bring the virus in from or take it to.

Marriage licenses now available via videoconferencing

Governor Newsom signed an executive order that will allow people to obtain marriage licenses via videoconferencing rather than in person. These provisions will be in place for the next 60 days.

LA County has largest outbreak in nation’s penitentiary system

Los Angeles County is seeing a surge of new coronavirus cases as testing expands, with institutional settings such as nursing homes and prisons being particularly hard hit. One of the hardest-hit areas is the federal prison at Terminal Island, where more than half of the inmates have tested positive for COVID-19. The Los Angeles facility now has the nation’s worst outbreak in the federal penitentiary system.