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.

April 9 - Updates on COVID-19

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BC’s Cavern Food Court

Rays of sunshine and bright green leaves frame BC’s Cavern Food Court. Photo by Ian Parker

TODAY'S CAMPUS UPDATES

Introducing Grad Gatherings

As COVID case counts among graduate students decline, Student Housing has developed a new Grad Gatherings policy for on-campus Graduate and Family Housing residents. The new policy is less restrictive and follows the current California Department of Public Health guidelines for gatherings.

New campus case*

One student resident and zero on-campus employees tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. For more information, visit the UCI COVID-19 dashboard.

Good news: No on-campus employees have tested positive for COVID since Feb. 27. Let’s keep this streak going!

UCI COVID-19 NEWS AND EVENTS

Upcoming events

UC NEWS

UC data incident update

UCOP has just published another set of FAQs (in both English and Spanish), addressing the most common questions they’ve received about the Accellion data incident and Experian credit/ID theft protection service. UCOP has also created a microsite on the Accellion incident within UCnet.

Friday fun fact

Dropping Knowledge: The University of California is a major research force at both the state and national levels, producing nearly ten percent of the nation’s research publications.

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.

U.S. COVID cases and hospitalizations are up

CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said in a White House briefing today that COVID-19 cases and ER visits are increasing – particularly for younger people, many of whom have not been vaccinated. Meanwhile, deaths have continued to decrease.

California expects a major reduction in vaccines

At the very moment more vaccines are needed, California is about to see an almost 90% drop in doses from Johnson & Johnson. The pharmaceutical company said a batch of 15 million doses did not meet their standards.

Hollywood Bowl to reopen next month

The Hollywood Bowl is set to reopen with limited capacity in May. The venue will host four free concerts for health care workers and first responders.

Orange County students won’t be forced to get vaccinated

County officials say they won’t force COVID vaccines on children, responding to text messages and social media posts in the community claiming otherwise.

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.

Secret ingredient: Love

Owners of Baltimore’s beloved fusion restaurant, Ekiben, took a snowy six-hour trip to Vermont to cook a dying customer’s favorite meal. They said it was “the most perfect tempura broccoli [they] ever made.”

Editor’s note: Humor and satire can be difficult. We apologize for yesterday’s item headlined “Satire: CDC says vaccinated people can now punch unvaccinated people in the face.” We want to reassure the campus community of our commitment to creating a safe and inclusive community for all, and do not endorse any sort of violence. We hope you’ll find future humor selections more enjoyable.

#UCIconnected

Xiaoyu Shi

Xiaoyu Shi, assistant professor in the Department of Developmental & Cell Biology, says: “I got the vaccine because I want to protect my students, and I believe in science!”

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 COVID-19 vaccination, 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.