June 2 - Updates on COVID-19

UCI Magazine: A New Day

The Spring 2021 issue has arrived. Read about the resilience, ingenuity, and future vision that give rise to “A New Day” for UCI and our greater community as we emerge from a yearlong pandemic. You can download a PDF version here.

#IamUCI: Kaosoluchi Enendu

Although Kaosoluchi Enendu will be leaving UCI with her M.D. to join the psychiatry residency program at Yale University, her impact on the School of Medicine is significant and lasting. Enendu co-founded the Leadership Education to Advance Diversity – African, Black and Caribbean program in 2019. LEAD-ABC is the first medical school program in the U.S. designed to produce leaders in medicine who will serve these communities. While the UCI medical school’s class of 2020 included no Black graduates, its 2020 incoming class had a record 12 Black students. 

As a doctor, Enendu hopes to address health inequities, focusing on racial trauma – stress stemming from the experience of racial discrimination. She plans to treat patients holistically, taking their racial and social context into consideration. Enendu also wants to advise institutions on how to design minority student support structures and consult on the creation of other mission-based programs like LEAD-ABC around the country.

UC NEWS

UC Wildfire Research Symposium

Join University of California experts on Friday, June 4, from 8:00 a.m. to noon, for the first wildfire symposium in a series of events hosted by UC Research & Innovation. The symposium will discuss the challenges ahead for the Golden State and the innovative opportunities research offers to policymakers, local communities and public safety experts to help prevent wildfires and keep Californians safe.

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.

12 states have vaccinated 70% of adults against COVID

Twelve states have now reached the Biden administration’s goal to vaccinate 70% of adults with at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by July 4, according to data published Tuesday by the U.S. CDC.

US Chamber of Commerce to urge states to help parents with childcare

To combat a growing shortage of workers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said it will urge states to use American Rescue Plan funding to help parents struggling with the high cost of childcare.

The real test of COVID progress is 2 weeks away, expert says

While Memorial Day was a milestone for a return to a sense of normalcy from the COVID-19 pandemic, it could take another two weeks to determine where the U.S. really stands, an expert said.

Rural Northern California is falling behind in vaccinations

Some rural counties in Northern California are falling further behind in COVID-19 vaccination rates compared with the rest of the state, causing cases to remain flat or, in some cases, to rise.

Case rate falls below one

Orange County’s coronavirus metrics once again hit new lows last week, with its case rate falling below one for the first time. The region had 0.9 new cases per 100,000 residents last week, down from 1.3 and 1.5 in the two weeks prior.

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.

Three-year-old requests morbid 'Lion King' scene on birthday cake so she can have it all to herself

The birthday girl’s special request, which has gone viral, was that her cake depict the scene from "The Lion King" where Mufasa, Simba's father, dies. The reason for such a seemingly morbid request?

“Everyone will be too sad to eat the cake and it will be all for me,” she said, according to a Twitter post by her uncle.

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