UC Davis: Athletics Curtails Attendance

From the University of California, Davis:

March 11, 2020

UC Davis Campus Coronavirus Information

The Latest

• Athletics attendance
• Research continuity and planning
• Exams, paid leave, gatherings
• Webinars on using Canvas
• ‘Maximum flexibility’ on instruction
• Webinar on travel and tickets
• Guidance for supervisors and managers
• Expanded travel directive
• Study Abroad decision March 20

MORE INFORMATION

• UC Davis campus
• Yolo County
• Yolo County phone: 211 or 530-666-8614
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• California Department of Public Health

Updated 10:30 p.m. March 11: Attendance at home athletics contests will be limited to essential personnel and those on a student-athlete pass list, effective Thursday (March 12), in order to protect at-risk individuals and minimize the spread of the coronavirus, Intercollegiate Athletics announced tonight. Officials said they implemented the policy out of an abundance of caution, through discussions with campus administration and recommendations from the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA.

Read the news release.

Updated 10:30 a.m. March 11: The Office of Research has posted a webpage on research continuity and planning for COVID-19. “With the ongoing concern about the spread of this disease, laboratories and research facilities should begin to plan for the possibility of a significant disruption to routine operations,” the webpage states. “Each laboratory or research facility is best positioned to create a continuity plan that will meet their unique needs. This guidance is provided to facilitate the development of your plan.

Updated 4 p.m. March 10: Campus leaders issue new directives for next week’s final exams (they cannot be in-person), paid leave for people who have COVID-19 illness or are caring for family members with COVID-19 illness, and limiting the size of gatherings to no more than 150 people, from Thursday, March 12, through March 31 (this limit does not apply to instruction through the end of this week, or to Intercollegiate Athletics or the Mondavi center for the Performing Arts). Plus, a new caution against nonessential travel, domestic or international (beyond the international prohibitions already in place).

Read the letter in its entirety.

Updated 1 p.m. March 9: Webinars are being held daily this week to provide faculty members with information on how to use Canvas to hold quizzes and exams online, communicate with students and distribute video lectures. Information on the webinars is available on the Keep Teaching website.

Updated 6 p.m. March 7: A new coronavirus message from academic leaders says there are no confirmed cases on the UC Davis campus, and that operations are continuing as normal. “After careful review of our local situation and following consultation with health professionals regarding the specific risk represented by classroom meetings, we write to inform you that we are not mandating the cancellation of in-person class meetings for the week of March 9,” the leaders said. Nevertheless, they are advising maximum flexibility and encouraging faculty or students who either should not or do not wish to attend in-person classes to complete the work of the quarter via alternate means.

Read the letter in its entirety.

Updated 5 p.m. March 7: UC’s Central Travel Office and Risk Services announced they will host a special webinar for UC travelers in regard to coronavirus-related cancellations.

“The situation surrounding the coronavirus and travel is continuously changing,” officials said in the ConnexUC newsletter March 4. “Airlines remain fluid in their policy regarding waivers or refunds for booked tickets, making upcoming travel complicated.”

The webinar is scheduled from 2 to 3 p.m. Wednesday, March 18, and will follow a Q&A format, according to the newsletter, allowing officials to share options available to UC travelers, especially if tickets were booked within UC contract at any one of UC’s preferred agencies.

People with questions are invited to send them early to Yasmin Sidi.

Updated 4:50 p.m. March 6: Guidance for supervisors and managers on topics of employees and illness, and modeling behaviors to help prevent the spread of disease; and travel; plus a reminder about the services of Academic and Staff Assistance Program for employees and their families.

Read more on the Coronavirus Guidance for Supervisors page.

Updated 4 p.m. March 6: Under an expanded directive from UC President Janet Napolitano, university travelers must now avoid all nonessential travel to China, Iran, Italy, Japan and South Korea — all tagged with Level 3 (widespread sustained transmission) or Level 2 (sustained community transmission) Travel Health Notices by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC. In addition, travelers should avoid layovers in those countries. “Further, individuals on our campuses with a recent travel history from a CDC Level 3 country must self-isolate for 14 days from the time they left the Level 3 country and practice social distancing,” Napolitano said.

Read more on the Global Affairs Travel Announcement page.

Updated 4 p.m. March 6: UC Davis will decide March 20 whether to cancel Study Abroad programs scheduled this summer in China and Italy (both tagged with CDC Level 3 Travel Health Notices) and Japan (Level 2) and any other countries that may receive Level 3 or Level 2 designations.

Read more: Study Abroad Program Information and Resources Related to Coronavirus.

Updated 10:30 a.m. March 6: Public health experts at the Yolo County Health and Human Services Agency have received confirmation that a Yolo County resident has tested positive for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). This is the first case in Yolo County, according to a county news release.

Health officials said the individual, an older female with underlying health conditions, is hospitalized and improving. From initial interviews, she acquired the disease through community transmission.

Updated 1:45 p.m. March 5: There are no reported cases of COVID-19 on the Davis campus or in Yolo County at this time. Nevertheless, campus leaders say in a letter, in the interests of health and safety, “This is an appropriate time for all instructors to be prepared in case students, staff or instructors become ill or are under quarantine in the coming weeks and months, or if the campus needs to temporarily suspend in-person instruction.” The letter includes advice and resources to support faculty and students who become ill or are quarantined.

Read the letter.

Updated 5:50 p.m. Feb. 29: Yolo County Public Health notified staff this afternoon (Feb. 29) that the UC Davis student who was quarantined and tested for COVID-19 had a negative result. The two other UC Davis students have also been notified and released from isolation.

Student Housing and Dining Services will maintain its intensified cleaning program.

The campus continues to recommend individuals practice proper handwashing and other good hygiene.

More information is available on the campus’s coronavirus website.

Yolo County still recommends residents practice precautionary actions to prevent the further spread of respiratory diseases, such as washing hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, covering coughs and staying home if sick. Yolo County continues to implement strategies to educate residents, protect public health and collaborate with partners and healthcare systems.

Updated 5:30 p.m. Feb. 29: Global Affairs has updated its travel advisories webpage with new notices from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, and the State Department.

The CDC on Feb. 28 elevated its advisories for Iran and Italy to Warning Level 3: Avoid all nonessential travel. With this update, university travelers are now to avoid all nonessential travel to China, Iran, Italy and South Korea. Travelers should also avoid layover travel that passes through any of these countries.

Also Feb. 28, the State Department issued a Level 3: Reconsider Travel advisory for Italy. On Feb. 26, the State Department issued a Level 3: Reconsider Travel advisory for Mongolia, due to travel and transport restrictions related to Mongolia’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak in China.

Under UC guidance and the UC Davis travel policy, China, Italy and South Korea will temporarily be considered “very high threat” destinations. Iran remains a “very high threat” destination both for COVID-19 and other considerations. Additionally, any countries in the future that are designated with a CDC Warning Level 3 due to COVID-19 will also be considered “very high threat” destinations, with travel to these destinations subject to review by the UC Davis Travel Advisory Committee.

Read Global Affairs’ complete update.

Updated at 3 p.m. Feb. 29: Questions and answers about the campus response to the coronavirus have been added to this website as a resource.

Updated 10 a.m. Feb. 28: University leaders are urging members of the campus community to take an active role in rejecting xenophobia, bigotry and racism associated with COVID-19.

“If you are in a situation where you see or experience xenophobic activity or any level of disrespect, racism or bigotry, we ask you to be active not passive,” said a joint statement by Renetta Garrison Tull, vice chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and Emily Galindo, interim vice chancellor for Student Affairs. “Stand with your fellow colleague, student or peer to de-escalate the incident.”

Hendry Ton, associate vice chancellor for Health Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, said in an earlier statement that health care providers must be aware that physical ailments don’t happen in a vacuum, and are affected by a patient’s social and economic circumstances.

“The lesson here is that to truly address illness and suffering, we must equally address the biological roots and the social ones,” he said.

Read the two statements here.

Updated 4 p.m. Feb. 27: UC Davis held a media availability this afternoon on the Davis campus’ response to COVID-19. A video of that event can be downloaded here or watched above. The speakers were:

• Cindy Schorzman, medical director of Student Health and Counseling Services, UC Davis
• Michael Sheehan, associate vice chancellor for Student Affairs: Housing, Dining and Divisional Operations
• Ron Chapman, Yolo County health officer

A transcript of the video recording of the media availability is available online.

Updated 3 p.m. Feb. 27: Chancellor Gary S. May and UC Davis Health Vice Chancellor and CEO David Lubarsky issue a statement to the Davis and Sacramento campuses, advising of three people from the Davis campus who are currently in isolation. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, is testing one for COVID-19, while the other two are asymptomatic and, following CDC guidance, have not been tested.

Read the statement in its entirety.

Updated 7:50 a.m. Feb. 27: In a letter to employees, UC Davis Health advises that a patient is being treated at the medical center for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). “Since the patient arrived with a suspected viral infection, our care teams have been taking the proper infection prevention (contact droplet) precautions during the patient’s stay,” the letter states. “This is not the first COVID-19 patient we have treated, and because of the precautions we have had in place since this patient’s arrival, we believe there has been minimal potential for exposure here at UC Davis Medical Center.

Read the letter in its entirety.

Updated 7 a.m. Feb. 27: Expanding on her earlier directive, UC President Janet Napolitano instructs the UC community to temporarily avoid all nonessential, university-related travel to countries with a CDC health designation of Warning Level 3. At this time, Warning Level 3 applies to South Korea as well as China (excluding the special administrative regions of Macau and Hong Kong).

Read Global Affairs’ complete update.

Updated 6:55 p.m. Feb. 25: Global Affairs has updated its travel advisories webpage with new notices from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

• South Korea — Warning Level 3, avoid all nonessential travel. University travelers are advised to avoid all nonessential travel to South Korea. Travelers should also avoid layover travel that passes through South Korea.
• Iran, Italy and Japan — Alert Level 2, practice enhanced precautions.
• Hong Kong — Watch Level 1, practice usual precautions.

Read Global Affairs’ complete update.

Updated 11:30 p.m. Feb. 13: Global Affairs has posted a travel FAQ. Topics include travel to China, Hong Kong and Taiwan; whether to reschedule travel to other areas in Asia; and restrictions affecting people traveling on Chinese passports, when trying to enter other countries. The FAQ also includes links for airline restrictions by country, and airline restrictions by airline.

Updated Feb. 10: Watch UC Davis Live discussion on coronavirus, recorded Feb. 6 and featuring Tracey Goldstein and Christine Johnson, associate directors, UC Davis One Health Institute.

Updated 11:30 a.m. Feb. 7: Cindy Schorzman, medical director of Student Health and Counseling Services, reported this morning that there is no case of coronavirus or suspected case under investigation on campus or in Yolo County.

Updated 9 p.m. Feb. 3: Global Affairs updated its coronavirus travel advisory with announcements from the departments of State and Homeland Security.

• Department of Homeland Security — As of Feb. 2, returning U.S. citizens who have traveled in China within 14 days of their arrival are being routed to one of seven designated airports where the government has enhanced public health resources in order to implement enhanced screening procedures. U.S. citizens who have been in Hubei province within 14 days of their return will be subject to up to 14 days of mandatory quarantine. Foreign nationals who have traveled in China within 14 days of their arrival will be denied entry into the United States.
• Department of State — Mission China, which includes the U.S. Embassy and all consulates, are closed to the public, Feb. 3-7, in accordance with Chinese government guidance. Emergency services for U.S. citizens are available. U.S. citizens can sign up for notifications for Americans traveling in China.

Updated 4 p.m. Feb. 1: Yolo County, in which the Davis campus is located, has added a resource and information page about the coronavirus. It includes how the county is responding to the situation as well as information about the virus, its symptoms, preventions tips and other resources. The county indicates that as of Jan. 31, it had no confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

Updated 5 p.m. Jan. 31: UC Davis continues to think locally and globally regarding the coronavirus that originated in Wuhan, China, and is spreading around the world.

INFLUENZA

Protecting yourself against the flu is protecting yourself from “a real and present danger right now here at home,” UC Davis Health’s chief nursing and patient services officer, Toby Marsh, said in a memo to all staff late this afternoon (Jan. 31).

“An estimated 15 million people have been infected by the flu this season, with more than 8,000 deaths so far. In our Emergency Department, we are seeing about 150 people a week for influenza. In the past two weeks, nearly half have tested positive for it.”

The main campus and health system have been stressing to students and others the importance of adhering to the same good hygienic practices that are recommended for protection from another virus — the flu.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, “person-to-person spread [of coronaviruses] is thought to occur mainly via respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, similar to how influenza and other respiratory pathogens spread.”

On the global front, UC Davis today (Jan. 31) designated China a “very high threat” travel destination for university affiliates.

Also today, the number of confirmed cases in California grew to three with the announcement by Santa Clara County’s Public Health Department that the CDC had confirmed a county resident — a man — had tested positive for the novel — or new — coronavirus. The other cases in the state are in Los Angeles and Orange counties.

UC Davis and UC Davis Health remained vigilant, with officials reporting earlier this week that the university had implemented measures to help protect our community should a patient be identified in the future.

The university continues to operate normally. Officials said there are currently no plans to cancel classes, and the university will not plan to do so unless directed by the Yolo County Health Department.

More about the new coronavirus, from the CDC.

Look for UC Davis updates at Dateline UC Davis.

Travel advisory

With today’s update from Global Affairs, all university affiliates’ China travel plans are subject to review by the Travel Advisory Committee. A handful of faculty members had previously registered their plans to travel to China — and Global Affairs confirmed with those faculty members that all of them had canceled their plans.

Global Affairs previously posted an advisory to university affiliates to avoid all travel to China, based on guidance from the Department of State and the CDC.

Look for updated advisories on Global Affairs’ novel-coronavirus travel announcement page. It includes information on the procedures involved in seeking permission to travel to China.

Global Affairs also reported that UC Davis has one study abroad program in China, scheduled to begin in late June. Zachary Frieders, interim executive director of the Global Learning Hub, said the university will evaluate the situation before enrollment closes in April, so that if the program is canceled, students have time to enroll in other programs.

The UC Education Abroad Program has canceled all winter and spring programs in China, affecting three UC Davis students; their program had not yet started.

The best defense

To help protect against flu virus — and by extension, coronavirus — Student Affairs and UC Davis Health advice includes: wash your hands often with soap and water; avoid touching your eyes, nose and mouth; and try to avoid close contact with sick people. Preventive steps, from the CDC.

UC Davis officials also are telling people: It is not too late to get a flu shot for added protection.

Cindy Schorzman, medical director of Student Health and Counseling Services, said: “Any member of our community suspecting they have influenza or the coronavirus should stay home.”

Students should call the Student Health and Wellness Center, 530-752-2349, or their primary care provider before going in. “This will allow us to provide you with information on your illness, and to plan for your visit to the clinic, if needed,” Schorzman said in a coronavirus update posted Jan. 28.

Faculty and staff should contact their primary care providers for instructions.

Schorzman’s update also includes an FAQ. It includes this note: Healthy students should not stay home for fear of catching an infection in class.

Human-to-human transmission

Marsh's memo today to staff at UC Davis Health came one day after the CDC confirmed the first instance of human-to-human transmission of the new coronavirus in the United States, in Chicago. The case, Marsh said, was “not surprising, given what we know about the disease.”

MORE FROM UC DAVIS HEALTH

• In a Jan. 24 news release and video, “What U.S. Residents Should Know,” Dean Blumberg, chief of pediatric infectious diseases, addresses such questions as, “Should I wear a mask?” and “What should I do if I have cold symptoms?”
• In a Jan. 22 news release and video, “What You Should Know” (below), Blumberg addresses such questions as, “Will the flu shot make a difference” and “How can I avoid Wuhan coronavirus?”

He said the case involved people in close contact with each other: a husband and wife. The wife recently returned from Wuhan. Not surprisingly, her husband contracted the disease from her.

“That type of transmission is exactly what we would expect with any coronavirus: When someone who is sick breathes, talks, coughs or sneezes in the vicinity of others, their respiratory droplets can carry the virus toward other people, or onto surfaces such as doorknobs and tables,” Marsh said.

“It’s all the more reason to practice good hand hygiene and flu prevention techniques. Washing our hands and covering our coughs cannot be done often enough, especially during flu season.”

Marsh said UC Davis Health is well prepared for coronavirus and “determined to maintain a safe workplace and quality care environment for everyone.”

He told employees a special coronavirus planning group is meeting twice a week, tasked with ensuring care teams and clinics have all the resources they need.

“I remain hopeful that the coronavirus here in the U.S. will not become anything like it has overseas,” he told staff. “Your training and professionalism mean that our community and region can be assured that UC Davis Health is prepared for everything.”

This press release was produced by the University of California, Davis. The views expressed here are the author’s own.