Your cloth face covering may protect them. Their cloth face covering may protect you. (CDC) Face coverings must now be worn statewide in indoor public spaces, workplaces, outdoor lines, public transportation and other high-risk settings under guidance issued today by Gov. Newsom and the California Department of Public Health. “We are seeing too many people with faces uncovered – putting at risk the real progress we have made in fighting the disease,” Newsom said. “California’s strategy to restart the economy and get people back to work will only be successful if people act safely and follow health recommendations.” The new…
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As COVID-19 cases spread across the state and nation, demand is growing for blood tests to identify people who may have been exposed to the novel coronavirus and developed antibodies to it. Such antibodies may mean these individuals have at least some immunity to the virus, formally named SARS-CoV2, and therefore may be able to return to work and school — and help jump-start the flagging U.S. economy. Results may also help identify COVID-19 antibody-positive people whose blood donations could be used to make convalescent plasma, an investigational treatment for seriously ill COVID-19 patients, according to the U.S. Food & Drug…
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Epidemiology professor Karen Edwards, department of Public HealthSteve Zylius / UCI UCI epidemiologist offers advice on healthy travel, recreation during the pandemic Despite the all-encompassing disruption of the coronavirus pandemic, time marches on, with summer just around the corner. For many, June signals the beginning of vacation season. But as COVID-19 continues to spread, where does summer travel stand? States are reopening and inviting tourists – and their dollars – to return. But is it safe to take a trip? What do we need to know about hotel or Airbnb lodgings? About eating in restaurants? About large public gatherings? Karen…
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Public Health First As our community is opening up, elected officials, governmental entities, community-based organizations, health care providers, educational institutions, businesses, and concerned community members must come together to do more to protect the health and safety of all of us. To prevent the re-closure of businesses and regress in our efforts from these past three months, safe, comprehensive strategies of evidence-based preventative measures is encouraged. Orange County residents need our leaders to stand strong and continue encouraging recommendations from our public health officials in a uniform voice. We understand it’s difficult to support rules that may face some public…
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Resources and information from the UCI School of Medicine Center of Excellence on Elder Abuse and Neglect, the USC Center for Elder Mistreatment, and the National Center on Elder Abuse. Today is World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEEAD). The International Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse and the World Health Organization at the United Nations launched the first WEAAD on June 15, 2006 in an effort to unite communities around the world in raising awareness about elder abuse. Elder abuse is widespread, and older adults living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias are especially vulnerable. According to the National…
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UC Health’s Twitter feed now includes daily COVID-19 updates with the number of patients at each UC hospital, maps showing the generalized home locations of recent patients, testing data graphs and more: https://twitter.com/UofCAHealth And the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research has created a data dashboard with information about COVID-19 case and death rates by race and ethnicity: http://healthpolicy.ucla.edu/health-profiles/Pages/COVID-19Dashboard.aspx
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Attendees at Acacia Adult Day Services center in Garden Grove play a game after breakfast. The center provides low-income elderly and disabled people meals, medical care, occupational therapy and social programs. Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed eliminating funding for Adult Day Services programs to help cover a $54 billion gap for the 2020-21 fiscal year. (Lauren M. Whaley/Center for Health Reporting) A recent article from the OC Register highlights the critical need for advocacy to save Orange County's senior services. State budget cuts could end adult day care that helps thousands of local families. What can you do to help?…
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UCI MIND is committed to taking action and making a difference for Black lives in research and academia. To start, we want to hear from you, our followers and stakeholders. Please join UCI MIND Director, Dr. Joshua Grill, for a virtual Town Hall this Friday, June 12 @ 9 AM to openly, honestly discuss issues around racism and how UCI MIND can do more and do better during this critical time. To attend Zoom meeting and share in the discussion, please email RSVP to cgcox@uci.edu.
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ASSIST Program pairs future health workers with homebound to address needs and loneliness. Once she starts talking, Geraldine Buchanan admits, she can keep right on going. About to turn 91 on Friday, Buchanan, for now, is a prisoner of the pandemic, stuck inside her Westminster home in an effort to stay safe from the spread of coronavirus. Talking on the phone is an escape. Buchanan’s loquaciousness is OK with Ryan Batten, a 22-year old UC Irvine nursing student who calls her at least once a week. Batten, set to graduate in June, is a good listener, something that figures to…
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Contributed by Christian Salazar, PhD, UCI MIND Project Scientist Racism is once again thrust into our national spotlight by the death of yet another unarmed Black American at the hands of police. Lamentably, the structures that create racism are deeply embedded in our society and have a direct impact on creating and maintaining health inequities. Indeed, numerous studies over decades have shown dramatic and persistent differences in health across racial groups. These disparities are in no small measure byproducts of racism. To combat racialized health disparities, we cannot ignore the multifaceted ways in which racism manifests in our society. We…
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