June 18 - Updates on COVID-19

Jacarandas bring splashes of purple to the campus. Photo by Steve Zylius

TODAY’S CAMPUS UPDATES

Revised workplace regulations

Starting Monday, fully vaccinated UCI employees will no longer need to wear masks at work and physical distancing requirements will end for everyone on campus. Yesterday, Cal/OSHA revised its workplace regulations to align with state and CDC guidelines and Gov. Newsom followed up with an executive order to have the new rules take effect today. To allow time for UCI to update its executive directives, Cal/OSHA’s revised regulations will take effect Monday, June 21, on campus.

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 Podcast: Jessica Millward on the meaning and importance of Juneteenth

Jessica Millward, an associate professor of history at UCI, tells the UCI Podcast about the history behind Juneteenth, the decades upon decades of continued struggle, and her hope for the future.

UCI Podcast: The economics of why work from home favors the suburbs

UCI Professor Jan Brueckner describes how the pandemic has disrupted housing markets.

UC NEWS

Friday fun fact

Economic engine: PitchBook reports that as of 2019, there were 3,400 California companies founded or co-founded by UC alumni, compared to 1,300 for CSU.

President Drake announces Juneteenth a new UC holiday

Yesterday President Biden declared Juneteenth a federal holiday. Celebrated on June 19, it marks the day in 1865 that enslaved people in Texas learned they were free. Since then, Juneteenth has been added to the University of California’s calendar of holidays, and this year it will be observed on Monday, June 28. Starting in 2022, Juneteenth will be celebrated according to the federal calendar.

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.

Want to hold a COVID vaccination event? Just ask O.C. health officials

The public can now request a no-cost mobile COVID-19 vaccination event at a workplace, church, neighborhood or other location using the Othena app.

Canada extends US travel restrictions through July 21

Canada will extend restrictions that bar non-essential travel at U.S. land borders until at least July 21. The restrictions were first imposed in March 2020 in response to the pandemic and have been extended in 30-day increments.

HOPE, INSPIRATION, LAUGHTER

French man goes everywhere with a pigeon he rescued

When 80-year-old Xavier Bouget goes for a ride on his bicycle, a majestic white pigeon rides on his hat. When he tinkers in his workshop, she pecks at the drill bits and nails. And when he waters his garden, she observes from his shoulder.

“There’s a desire to be together, because it feels good,” says Bouget, who rescued the once “almost featherless” pigeon after it fell to the ground trying to escape from a cat.

#UCIconnected

“Dearest UCI faculty...

Thank you all so much for all your incredible work this year -- especially all that work you did that went unnoticed in order to maintain the best educational experience you could.

With much gratitude,

a UCI student”

The All-truism project, which is supported through a Barnes & Noble College Scholarship, aims to create connections through community, compassion and the creative arts. In this series, Anteaters write letters to faculty and staff.

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.