May 3 - Updates on COVID-19

An aloe plant and fume hood vents on McGaugh Hall. Photo by Ian Parker

TODAY’S CAMPUS UPDATES

No new campus cases over weekend*

The streak that began April 26 continued over the weekend as no student residents or on-campus employees tested positive for COVID-19. Also, just under 12% of students have uploaded their vaccination records to the student health portal. For more information, visit the UCI COVID-19 dashboard.

UCI COVID-19 NEWS AND EVENTS

A woman working on traditional Korean clothing is one of 48 photos exploring how the pandemic affected Asian American and Pacific Islanders in Orange County. Photo by Ivy Duong

Photo project captures COVID’s effects on O.C. Asians

Various images collected by 24 UCI undergrads “really give people the feeling of what it’s like to live through the pandemic and the feeling of what it’s like to be perceived as a racial enemy,” says project lead Judy Tzu-Chun Wu.

Upcoming events

• Advancing Equity in the Age of COVID-19, Wednesday, 4 p.m.

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.

Celebrity vaccine endorsements don’t help, experts say

Few people are persuaded by actors, athletes, musicians, politicians or other luminaries getting inoculated, epidemiologists say. “For the most part, we still listen more to our peers than to some figurehead,” one notes.

Looking back on California’s COVID results

Did the state’s restrictions help, hurt or have little effect? The evidence is unclear, USA Today reports, suggesting history will decide the matter. In the meantime, one factor that helped California go from national epicenter of COVID-19 to one of the lowest case rates in the U.S. was a broad public embrace of vaccines.

US air travel hits new pandemic record

The Transportation Security Administration says it screened more than 1.62 million people at airports across the country on Sunday. The new record is nearly 10 times larger than the same day a year ago, when numbers plunged.

Decoding vaccine skepticism

For years, scientists have treated vaccine skepticism as a knowledge problem. If patients were hesitant, the logic went, they just needed more information. But that view is patronizing and incorrect, new research indicates.

Orange County resumes J&J vaccine

Orange County resumed administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine Sunday after it was temporarily paused by federal health officials concerned about very rare cases of blood clotting in patients who received the single-dose shot.

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.

“Would you like to sit inside-inside, outside-inside or outside-outside?” (The New Yorker)

New batch of New Yorker cartoons

Scroll down a bit on the magazine’s humor & cartoons page for the latest slideshow of (mostly) pandemic-related cartoons, plus one with a roomful of anteaters.

#UCIconnected

Vaccine selfies: For a safer future for everyone

Yasmine Bashiri, double-majoring in urban studies and business economics, says she got the shot “to help return to a more normal environment that is safer for everyone.” She adds, “My greatest fear during the pandemic has been the thought of catching the virus and giving it to someone with a weakened immune system, so it was a relief to not have to worry as much anymore about being the cause for someone else’s suffering.” Bashiri is hoping progress against the vaccine will also enable her to study abroad this fall. “It’s been my dream since my first year at UCI to go overseas and immerse myself in a different culture, so I really hope everything continues to get better.”

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.

Watch UCI students try and discuss different boba tea flavors.

National Boba Day

April 30 is National Boba Tea Day. Click here to learn more about the history of the chewy tapioca balls and how to celebrate. 

The best boba in Orange County

This blog post breaks down the top 10 boba shops in Orange County (this list does not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors). Number one is right across the street from UCI in University Center.

#UCIconnected

For others

Michael T. Kleinman, professor of environmental toxicology, got the vaccine for his family and community.

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.