May 6 - COVID exposure instructions; vacation accrual increase ends
Section 1
Purple reign: Blooming jacaranda trees beautify Aldrich Park near McGaugh Hall. Photo by Steve Zylius/UCI
In this continuing series, UCI experts answer questions about COVID-19, vaccinations, variants or the future of work. Submit questions via email.
Today’s question is fielded by David Souleles, director of UCI’s COVID-19 Response Team:
I was exposed to someone with COVID-19. What should I do?
If you were recently exposed, reply to the daily symptom checker email for further instructions and review the isolation and close contact instructions on the UCI Forward page.
If you were in close contact with a COVID-19 case (closer than 6 feet for at least 15 cumulative minutes over a 24-hour period), the following instructions apply, regardless of vaccination status:
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You do not need to quarantine*.
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Consider testing as soon as possible** and, if negative, test again at least a day later but within three to five days after your last exposure. Free COVID-19 testing is available on campus at the Student Center and Plaza Verde, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Home antigen test kits are also available for pickup from campus testing sites and in student residential housing offices.
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Wear a well-fitting mask around others for 10 days, especially indoors and when near those at higher risk for severe COVID-19 disease. Free masks are available for students and employees from pickup locations on campus.
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You are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated or boosted if you have not already done so.
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If symptoms develop, test and stay home.
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If you test positive, follow the campus isolation recommendations.
*This guidance does not apply to employees in Student Health Services or the Counseling Center. Please contact UCI Contact Tracing and Vaccine Navigation Services for guidance at contacttracing@uci.edu or 949-824-2300.
**Persons infected within the previous 90 days do not need to be tested unless symptoms develop.
UCI ANNOUNCEMENTS AND NEWS
Temporary vacation accrual increase ends June 30
On June 1, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, vacation accrual maximums for policy-covered employees were temporarily lifted to allow more time to use accrued vacation leave. Per presidential order, the temporary change was effective through June 30, 2022. The university has been advised that the change will not be extended.
Emissions tied to the international trade of agricultural goods are rising: UCI-led study
Earth system scientists at UCI and other institutions have drawn the clearest line yet connecting consumers of agricultural produce in wealthier countries in Asia, Europe and North America with a growth in greenhouse gas emissions in less-developed nations, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere. The connection is detailed in a paper published today in Science.
During his NBA career, Metta Sandiford-Artest was known as Ron Artest and later Metta World Peace. Photo by Vincent Tullo
Metta Sandiford-Artest to be featured throughout Mental Health Innovation Challenge
Former Laker and NBA champion Metta Sandiford-Artest will be featured during all three parts of the ANTrepreneur Center’s Hacking Student Success: Mental Health Innovation Challenge. A small forward known for his smothering defense, he will share how becoming an entrepreneur helped him overcome his mental health struggles in a series of videos that will be shown at the May 11 and May 18 events. Sandiford-Artest will be on campus to deliver the keynote address at the May 25 event.
UC NEWS AND GENERAL NEWS
Friday fun fact
Higher yield: Student Academic Preparation and Education Partnership community college participants are more likely to come to UC than non-program participants.
World’s true pandemic death toll nearly 15 million: WHO
COVID-19 has caused the deaths of nearly 15 million people around the world, the World Health Organization estimates. That is 13% more deaths than normally expected over two years. The WHO believes many countries undercounted coronavirus death totals as only 5.4 million were reported.
FDA dramatically narrows use of J&J vaccine
The Food and Drug Administration has restricted the use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine to adults who are unable or unwilling to get the Pfizer or Moderna shots. The FDA recently completed an updated risk analysis of developing thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, a rare and possibly fatal combination of blood clots and low platelet counts one to two weeks after receiving the J&J vaccine.
Comic-Con will require face coverings this year, but not any old mask will do
Finally back after two years, Comic-Con International recently updated its website to say attendees must wear a face covering throughout the San Diego convention and show proof of either vaccination or a negative test within 72 hours. Protocols are very specific about masks to be worn during the July 21-24 event. Fortunately, the San Diego Union-Tribune has costume ideas.
EVENTS
Cup of SOAR
Tuesday, 10 a.m. (sponsored by Student Outreach and Retention)
PSAC Town Hall: Re-envisioning UCI Community Safety
Tuesday, 3 p.m. (sponsored by Public Safety Advisory Committee)
Inventing Environmental Future: Science Fiction as Practice
Tuesday, 4 p.m. (sponsored by School of Social Sciences)
UCDC Information Session
Tuesday, 4 p.m. (sponsored by Capital Internship Program in Washington, D.C. and Sacramento)
Conversation with Award-Winning Playwright Karen Zacarias and Luiciana Valero, director of Brown Bag Theatre Company's Native Garden
Tuesday, 5 p.m. (sponsored by Illuminations: The Chancellor’s Arts & Culture Initiative)
Survival. Resilience. Hope. A Holocaust Survivor Shares His Story
Tuesday, 7 p.m. (sponsored by Chabad Jewish Student Center)
Virtuoso pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet and cellist Gautier Capuçon
Tuesday, 8 p.m. (sponsored by Illuminations: The Chancellor’s Arts & Culture Initiative)
Visit today.uci.edu to see and submit event listings. Events of general interest will be shared in UCI Digest two days before they occur.
UCI IN THE NEWS
Note: Some news sites require subscriptions to read articles. The UCI Libraries offer free subscriptions to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Orange County Register and The Washington Post for students, faculty and staff.
Nearly $4 billion committed to the future of health care in Irvine
Irvine Standard, May 4
Cited: Dr. Steve Goldstein, vice chancellor, health affairs, and Chad Lefteris, UCI Health CEO
AAPI Heritage Month is a time for solidarity amid anti-Asian attacks
WVXU (podcast), May 5
Guest: Judy Tzu-Chun Wu, Chancellor’s Fellow, Humanities Center director and professor, Asian American studies
The Surprising Scale of the Seagrass Sanitation Service
Hakai Magazine, May 4
Cited: Joleah Lamb, assistant professor, ecology & evolutionary biology
#UCICONNECTED
#IamUCI: Q&A with Class of 2022 graduate Laura Flores, J.D.
First-generation college student Laura Flores, who grew up in a working-class, immigrant household in Tampa, Florida, decided to attend law school not only to support her family but to uplift and serve her community and other marginalized communities through legal advocacy.
Graduating this year? Share your UCI story and photos! Tag us with #IamUCI on Instagram and Twitter.