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.

January 22 - Updates on COVID-19

Section 1

Rendering of UCI Medical Center Irvine-Newport

A rendering of UCI Medical Center Irvine-Newport, a full-service academic health complex that will bring a broad spectrum of sophisticated healthcare services to coastal and southern Orange County.

TODAY'S CAMPUS UPDATES

UCI’s workplace COVID prevention plan

UCI to build world-class hospital on Irvine campus

Plans to build a world-class, acute care hospital on the northern edge of the UCI academic campus were approved yesterday afternoon by the University of California Board of Regents. The project’s 144-bed acute care facility, ambulatory care center and cancer center joins the previously approved UCI Health Center for Advanced Care to create the new UCI Medical Center Irvine-Newport, a full-service academic health complex that will bring a broad spectrum of the most advanced healthcare services to coastal and southern Orange County. UCI Medical Center Irvine-Newport will anchor the new UCI Presidential Gateway featuring healing gardens, naturescapes and research preserve.

New campus cases*

Six students and four employees were reported as testing positive for coronavirus since yesterday. Active positive cases are currently at 101. View the UCI dashboard for additional case count data.

UCI COVID-19 NEWS AND EVENTS

The future of graduate education

Graduate programs have been forced to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic, adjusting both their admissions processes and their classroom experiences. Three UCI deans joined this panel interview to discuss UCI’s pandemic response, the reasons for suspending standardized test requirements, the need for diversity in graduate programs and why graduate education is vital to society.

Upcoming events

UC NEWS

UC President Drake statement on US return to Paris Agreement

University of California President Michael V. Drake, M.D., released the following statement in response to President Biden’s executive order reinstating the U.S. to the Paris climate accord.

UC in the White House

Dozens of UC-affiliated people, representing virtually all UC campuses, have been tapped to serve in the new administration. Public service is one of the three core elements of UC’s mission, and these former UC faculty and alumni manifest this mission at its highest level.

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.

Orange County readies second mass vaccination site at Soka University

Orange County staff and volunteers are gearing up for the opening of a mass vaccination center at Soka University in Aliso Viejo on Saturday.

Amazon offers to help with COVID-19 vaccine distribution

Amazon is offering its help to President Joe Biden with the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, while seeking to get its employees inoculated “at the earliest appropriate time.”

Couples struggle with sleep problems in the Covid-19 pandemic

Couples are having to spend more time together under enormously stressful circumstances during the coronavirus pandemic, and it’s affecting their ability to get enough sleep.

U.S. virus surge has peaked, researchers say

The fall and winter surge of coronavirus infections across the U.S. appears to have finally peaked, according to several researchers who are closely tracking the virus.

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.

Dog spent days outside hospital waiting for owner

A devoted dog followed the ambulance that transported her owner to the hospital on Jan. 14. She then made daily visits to the facility. “She comes every day around 9 a.m. and waits until nightfall. She doesn’t go in,” said a hospital security guard.

Organists offer soundtrack to vaccinations at medieval UK cathedral

David Halls isn’t a doctor, nurse or ambulance driver, but he wanted to contribute in the fight against COVID-19. So he did what he does best: He sat down on the bench at Salisbury Cathedral’s historic organ and began to play. Salisbury Cathedral, an 800-year-old cathedral in southwestern England, is serving as a mass vaccination center in the U.K.

A teacher called to protect the U.S. Capitol as a National Guard member holds class from a Humvee

D.C. National Guard Sgt. Jacob Kohut was on his only break during a 12-hour shift standing guard outside the U.S. Capitol. In the back of a Humvee, flute in hand, Kohut was teaching students how to play Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” through his laptop.

#UCIconnected

Photo of birds sitting on laptop

Theresa (Terri) Lopez, an Administrative Officer 2 with Health Information Management at UCI Health sent #UCIConnected this working from home photo. Thank you for sharing, Terri!

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.