May 21 - Updates on COVID-19

Marble statues line a walkway outside the Science Library. Photo by Judy Wu

TODAY’S CAMPUS UPDATES

No new campus cases*

No student residents or on-campus employees tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. For more information, visit the UCI COVID-19 dashboard.

UCI COVID-19 NEWS AND EVENTS

UCI town hall addresses workforce reentry, vaccinations

In the latest installment of communicating quarterly with the UCI community, Chancellor Howard Gillman hosted a town hall on Wednesday – the second of 2021. Eleven other campus leaders also participated in the two-hour event, addressing dozens of questions about remote and hybrid work, campus safety, the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, instructional delivery, and employee pay and layoffs.

Exploring ‘exercise as medicine’

New class examines how and why physical activity can work better than pills.

UC NEWS

Friday fun fact

UC students who served: More than 70 percent of UC undergraduate veterans enter the University as California Community College transfers.

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, OC Register and Washington Post for students, faculty and staff.

Good news for the community 

At the Emergency Preparedness Interagency Collaborative monthly meeting, director of OC Health Care Agency Dr. Clayton Chau shared some hopeful news about Orange County:

• 84% of people over 65 have had at least one dose

• OC has the lowest case rate of any Southern California county

• Only 200 cases tested positive after being fully vaccinated out of 1.6 million who are immunized

California to remove distancing and capacity requirements on June 15

California officials have announced the full details of the state’s reopening plan, set to take effect on June 15. The Friday news conference laid out plans for removing social distancing and capacity requirements throughout the state.

COVID aid to concert halls, theaters to be distributed next week

The Small Business Administration is aiming to start awarding aid to live-entertainment venues early next week, according to an agency administrator.

L.A. Pride hosting in-person events in June after parade canceled

The Pride parade is off the table for a second year, but the organization behind it announced some in-person events that will bring the celebration to more parts of the city, including a special night at Dodger Stadium and an outdoor movie screening at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Pfizer/BioNTech to deliver 2 billion vaccine doses to developing countries

Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE will deliver two billion doses of their COVID-19 vaccine to developing nations over the next 18 months, Pfizer Chief Executive Albert Bourla said Friday.

Franklin Graham urges hesitant evangelicals to get COVID shot

Evangelical leader the Rev. Franklin Graham urged people to get the vaccine and suggested that modern medicine is an extension of Jesus Christ's healing ministry. Although vaccine hesitancy is not confined to the evangelical community, a recent Pew Research poll showed that 45% of white evangelicals said they would not get the vaccine.

Unable to resist the urge to wave at the end of Zoom calls? You're not alone

Psychologists, body language experts and those who study digital communication all agree that waving at the end of video calls is a good thing — an indication that just because we have been socially distanced for over a year does not mean we have become socially inept.

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.

Fortune cookies scored people $400M in lottery winnings, study finds

A recent survey has revealed that at least 146 lottery winners between 2004 and 2021 chose their lucky numbers based on the little strip of paper inside the treat, reaping more than $406 million in winnings, with 93% earning more than $100,000 each.

#UCIconnected

 

The cutest snake you’ll meet

Children at the UCI Extended Day Center have been collaborating on a special art project since last September, inspiring other UCI child care centers to start their own as well. Director Julie Bookwalter describes the creative endeavor:

“Concerned with the social and emotional health of our children who had been through a lot this year, we decided to start a project that one of our teachers had seen at a local park. Our children created a Love and Kindness Rock Snake, which involved painting the head of the snake on a large rock, and then painting smaller rocks that displayed positive messages.

Our snake has grown from a few rocks to over 20 feet of rocks and it is still going. We are excited each morning to see rocks that have been added not just by our families, but by the larger UCI community.

We encourage everyone to come by and take a look, or to add to the love and kindness that our children are spreading!”