September 14 - Updates on COVID-19
Section 1
CAMPUS SNAPSHOT
Flower power. Photo by Steve Zylius/UCI.
TODAY’S CAMPUS UPDATES
UCI is ranked among nation’s top 10 public universities for sixth year in a row
The University of California, Irvine has been ranked eighth among the nation’s public universities in U.S. News & World Report’s 2021 list of “Best Colleges,” released today. This is the sixth consecutive year in which UCI has placed in the top 10. The campus also climbs to No. 2 for social mobility.
UCI Anteater Pledge
All students are required to take the Anteater Pledge. The Anteater Pledge is a commitment to our community to do everything we can to help reduce the spread of COVID-19 on our campus. Make this pledge to affirm that you understand the expectations that we have with one another.
UCI COVID-19 NEWS AND EVENTS
UCI Working Well™ Remotely Webinar Series
As the COVID-19 pandemic persists, and employees continue telecommuting, we recognize that balancing work demands with home responsibilities can be daunting. To help you manage these challenges, we have developed the UCI Working Well™ Remotely Webinar Series. The first one is Balancing Work and Life and takes place tomorrow, Sept. 15, from noon to 12:50 p.m. To join the live webinar, click this Zoom link. Zoom Webinar ID: 947 6092 3554, Passcode: 348131
Student risks abroad and faculty responsibilities
UCI Global Engagement is offering a discussion with UCI faculty and staff regarding the risks and concerns for students who are subject to the local laws of the physical location in which they reside while taking UCI classes online. The event is Wednesday, September 16, from 10 to 11 a.m. PDT. Registration is required.
How UCI has made remote learning both fun and engaging
Brian Sato, Associate Dean for the Division of Teaching Excellence and Innovation (DTEI), teams up with DTEI directors Andrea Aebersold and Danny Mann in this four-minute video to explain some of the things they’ve done to ensure fun and engaging classroom experiences this Fall.
Anteater Insider Live: Reporting a case of COVID-19
What happens when you report a case of COVID-19 to Human Resources? And how do you even go about doing that? Bob Martin, from UCI’s Human Resources team, will share the details on the COVID-19 reporting process during the next episode of Anteater Insider Live. Also, David Souleles, the director of UCI’s COVID-19 response team, will describe how the contact tracing process unfolds after a COVID-19 case is reported. Both experts will take your questions during a Q&A session. Tune in Wednesday, Sept. 16, at noon. Register for the event on Zoom or watch it on Vimeo.
The difference between success and winning
Though we aren’t together physically, we are still a strong Anteater community. In this two-minute video Vice Provost Michael Dennin explains how we can achieve success by coming together. He also highlights the Anteater Virtues—curiosity, humility, tenacity and integrity—and their role in creating a safe, healthy, and welcoming community.
UCI Podcast: At the forefront of digital learning
The pandemic-induced pivot to remote instruction has made digital learning the most important issue in education today, for students from pre-K to Ph.D. In 2015, the UCI Paul Merage School of Business launched an in-house Digital Learning Program that designs, develops and produces meaningful online learning experiences. Here, Program Director Natalie Blair tells the UCI Podcast what she recognized five years ago that most of academia missed, what makes this program unique and what she sees for the future of digital learning.
UCI UPDATES
Two UC campuses to pilot smartphone technology to limit spread of COVID-19
Two University of California campuses will pilot the use of a smartphone technology to notify users if they have had a high-risk COVID-19 exposure that may result in infection. Importantly, privacy and security are central to the design of the technology, which does not collect location data from any device and never shares user identities.
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.
Rooftop alphorns power virus-safe concert in Germany
Musicians have taken to the roofs of apartment blocs with alphorns in the German city of Dresden to perform a concert featuring distant harmonies at a time when cultural events have been disrupted by the coronavirus 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
Facebook launches student-only networking site
Facebook launches a platform exclusively for students. Facebook Campus is described as a “dedicated section of the Facebook app designed for students,” where shared content can only be seen by other people attending the same institution. Facebook Campus will have its own chat rooms and a News Feed where students can see updates from classmates and find information about upcoming events.
OC COVID-19 cases down 44% in past month
New coronavirus cases in Orange County have dropped 44% in the past month, according to an analysis of OC Health Care Agency data.
U.S. colleges and universities are new COVID hot spots
All 50 states have reported positive cases of COVID-19 at colleges and universities and more than 45,000 cases in all have been reported in students and staff.
WHO reports highest single-day increase in COVID-19 cases globally
Yesterday, the WHO reported the highest single-day increase in global COVID-19 infections since the pandemic began, totaling 307,930 new cases.
Pregnant women with COVID-19 at higher risk of becoming severely ill
According to health care professionals who have been monitoring COVID-19’s adverse impacts on expectant mothers and their infants, pregnant women who contract the coronavirus stand a higher risk of becoming severely ill.
Wildfire evacuees present a public health challenge amid the pandemic
Relief groups are taking a different approach to helping wildfire evacuees by putting some in hotels to reduce the spread of COVID-19, stringing shower curtains to separate people in groups, and providing box lunches instead of using buffets.
AstraZeneca to resume coronavirus vaccine trial
After pausing its coronavirus vaccine trial because a patient reported a side effect, AstraZeneca announced they would be resuming the trial and monitoring patients very carefully.
UCI IN THE NEWS - COVID-19 Article List
Newsweek, Sept. 14, 2020
No sign of second wave before election, but U.S. COVID-19 cases could get worse
KCUR 89.3, Sept. 14, 2020 (Audio)
From 9/11 To George Floyd’s death, tragedies have more impact when images tell the story
Orange County Business Journal, Sept. 14, 2020
Anaheim luxe hotel opens to new landscape
Slate, Sept. 14, 2020
Even college esports are facing challenges in the pandemic
Santa Cruz Sentinel (The Mercury News), Sept. 13, 2020
Coronavirus: Six months after sheltering, why things fell apart
Voice of OC, Sept. 11, 2020
OC public health officials won’t say what OC college has a coronavirus outbreak while enforcement questions surface