March 22 - Updates on COVID-19

CAMPUS SNAPSHOT

Overlooking UCI Research Park from the Ecological Preserve. Photo by Ian Parker

TODAY'S CAMPUS UPDATES

No new campus cases over weekend*

Mirroring county and state trends, no student residents or campus employees tested positive for COVID-19 from Friday through Sunday, extending a streak that began Thursday. For more information, visit the UCI COVID-19 dashboard.

UCI COVID-19 NEWS AND EVENTS

Tears and shouts of joy at Match Day 2021

Watch the emotional reactions as UCI medical students learn where they’ll be doing their residencies.

UC NEWS

Navigating a year of heartbreak and hope

A Q&A with Dr. Carrie L. Byington, executive vice president of UC Health.

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 adopts 3-foot spacing for classrooms

Students are now allowed to sit 3 feet apart — instead of 4 or 6 feet — a change that pressures local officials toward a faster and fuller reopening of campuses that have been closed for over a year in response to the pandemic.

AstraZeneca vaccine 79% effective in U.S. study

The two-shot regimen was 100% effective at preventing severe cases of illness.

Europe battles new COVID wave, imposes lockdowns

Adding to the problem is a sluggish vaccine rollout, officials say.

Happiness report: World shows resilience despite COVID

The editors of the 2021 World Happiness Report found that while emotions changed as the pandemic set in, longer-term satisfaction with life was less affected.

White House warns against relaxing COVID restrictions

The administration is encouraging governors and the private sector to maintain or reimpose coronavirus restrictions as new case rates remain high and some states are lifting guidelines.

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.

Satire: Diamond chalkboards and massage chairs to reopen schools?

A Babylon Bee video spoofs negotiations to get kids back into classrooms.

Teen makes tiny bow ties to help shelter dogs get adopted

Eighth-grade boy’s canine neckwear helps critters stand out by making them look both hilarious and adorable.

#UCIconnected

Hungry yet?

Lilibeth Garcia in Strategic Communications used the pandemic to become a baking aficionado and/or a dentist’s best friend (you may get cavities just from looking at the photos of her mouthwatering desserts). She writes:

Last March was a month full of storms. I remember it poured hard my first day of quarantine and remote work, and it didn’t stop pouring for a while. I realized I would have to weather it all out on my own, detached from my support system, so I decided to spend the rest of lockdown (what we then thought would last mere weeks or worst case scenario until summer) with my parents and younger siblings and move in with them. Inspired by my “Great British Baking Show” binges and storms that transformed into cozy rainy days, I started to learn how to bake. I found that working with my hands and making sweet treats for my loved ones brought me great peace, especially as our hopes for the future crashed around us. Those moments of “breaking bread” with my immediate family, in a time when I could lose them at any moment, are now some of my most cherished memories. 2020 will always be bittersweet.

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.