Hi everyone, I hope you’re all having a good week.
Welcome to another episode of UVA Weekly, the new smash-hit show of the season.
Today, we’ll be giving you an update on how things are going with the virus, sharing
ideas for what you can do in groups of 5 or fewer, taking you on a tour of the Memorial
to Enslaved Laborers, sharing the latest information on the search for a COVID-19 vaccine, and
ending with a sneak preview of the new season of Arts on the Hill.
But first, a quick review of the numbers: At the time we’re recording this on Thursday
morning, we have 219 “active” cases, meaning new cases with a positive test result in the
past 10 days that require isolation on or off Grounds.
Right now, about 9% of our isolation space we’ve set aside for students who test positive is
occupied, as is 22% of the quarantine space we’ve reserved for close contacts.
Our new saliva testing program is making it possible to perform more widespread testing
of asymptomatic students, and we are working every day to expand capacity.
The details about our plans are in this week's Return to Grounds newsletter.
A couple weeks ago, in an effort to stay one step ahead of the virus, we put new guidelines
in place around gatherings, masking, and travel.
At the time, we said the guidelines would stay in place for at least two weeks, at which
point we would reevaluate.
As you heard from Dean Groves on Tuesday, we’ve decided to keep the new guidelines
in place for a couple more weeks.
I know this comes as a disappointment to many of you, and I want to be clear that
we’re not doing this as a punishment.
The vast majority of you have done a remarkable job adapting to the new rules, and it has
helped slow the spread of the virus.
While the numbers are looking better this week, they are not yet where we would like them to be,
which is why we’re going to stay the course for now.
Thank you for your understanding, your patience, and for doing your part.
Speaking of students doing their part, it’s been incredibly encouraging to see so many
of you on Grounds wearing your masks, gathering in groups of 5 or fewer, and observing social
distancing.
We’ve also received reports from members of the community who have seen students setting
a good example off-Grounds as well.
Thank you for everything you’re doing to keep yourselves and our community safe.
I would like to end with a special word of thanks to the team at Facilities Management.
Earlier this week, I stopped by their shop and got to meet some of the people who are
keeping us safe across Grounds.
It’s a remarkably talented and dedicated group of people doing an enormous amount of
work that often goes unnoticed.
So, if you see them around, please say thanks.
And thanks to all of you for watching, and now, as usual, I’ll turn things over to Davion Zeno. Thank you.
Wassup Guys, Zeno here and I’m back like I left something.
Coming to you with the Youva team to talk all things Covid and news on grounds.
For this week’s segment It seems like we have to have the talk.
You know, the talk.
When you meet someone and you're seeing them daily.
Yeah, that talk.
I am talking about the Covid expectations talk with your roommates.
What else could I be talking about?
Listen, I know we are a month in but we are still receiving questions on how to deal with
this awkward conversation.
I don't know about you guys, but I love awkward moments, they just bring people together.
In any relationship, communication is key.
Let each other know when it is the worst time to talk and when it is the best time to talk.
Some people don’t have the mental capacity to have important conversations past 10 pm,
I am some people.
Express your limitations like what you can and cannot share.
Computers, keyboards and bedding may be off limits and that is totally fine.
Also maybe promise each other that as soon as you get home we will always wash your hands.
With online classes, and studying happening in your rooms, it would be important to discuss
norms.
If you need absolute silence during certain classes, using headphones, setting quiet hours
are all important for your academic success during these times.
Communication needs to be clear with cleanliness, like committing to wiping down surfaces like
door knobs, counters, and fridge handles at least daily.
In the case that your roommate becomes sick with the flu or covid, wear a mask, open windows,
disinfect all surfaces and don’t cook or eat together.
Check with student health to see if you need to get tested.
We know that these conversations are tough but they are important.
We encourage you to always start off with the why setting these routines and commitments
are important.
With over 200,000 people passing due to complications with the virus in the US, chances are multiple
students have had a brush with it in some way.
And, while all of us are having these conversations, it’s worth remembering that a lot of researchers
at UVA are hard at work on treatments and vaccines that could help us put an end to
this pandemic.
This week, Dr. Bill Petri takes us behind the scenes in his lab, where they have made some
important discoveries about how to treat COVID and how a vaccine might work.
Our lab studies the immunology of infectious diseases and so when COVID-19 occurred, we
were in a unique position to be able to respond because this is sort of what we do, is look
at how the immune system protects against infection.
Specifically, as far as a COVID vaccine, what we’ve been doing is developing a vaccine
against a parasitic infection, but it’s a platform with which one can use to develop
vaccines against COVID-19, so what our research efforts are in the lab is to develop what
might be a second or third generation vaccine.
So there’s two unique contributions that we’re making to COVID-19 research through
this lab.
So the first is the work of Allie Donlan, who is a graduate student, who has shown that
an allergic immune response, we call a type-2 immune response, actually predisposes to severe
disease and Allie has been able to show that if you neutralize that type-2 immune response
you actually protect an animal from COVID-19 suggest that we should be able to protect
people by neutralizing allergic cytokines.
We’ve seen both in the patient samples and the mouse data that the immune response to
the disease itself is very variable, and so if we can understand what causes these variations
in the host immune response or the host response in general, we might be able to tailor specific
personalized medicine than say a one-size-fits-all medication.
The second advance is that Mayuresh Abhyankar, who is an assistant professor in the group,
has shown that there is an adjuvant, something you add to a vaccine that will promote a long-lived
antibody response.
What we have shown is the immune response lasted for at least six months using our adjuvant
system, so that’s pretty promising and that’s one of the exciting aspects we want to apply
this platform for the COVID vaccine.
There is now five vaccines in the US that are in phase 3 clinical trials.
I’m really optimistic and I fully expect that healthcare providers will be vaccinated
probably at the end of this year or January and then will go to then vaccinating people
who have underlying illnesses that put them at greatest risk and then finally will be
to the general public I would imagine by spring/summer of next year, so the vaccine will be widely
available to everyone
It’s hard to connect with new people or current friends in this socially distanced
world but we have some suggestions that can get you out of your room and maybe even out
your comfort zone while still complying with Covid guidelines.
This month, IM-Rec is planning some movie nights in the AFC pool, laser tag, and a Roommate
Zombie fun run to get you in the holiday spirit.
Athletics hosted a football watch party Saturday night and hopes to do a few similar events
this fall.
You can grab a few friends and take an online yoga class hosted by the Contemplative Sciences
Center or participate in workshops hosted by Multicultural Student Services like Safe
Space training and programs exploring identity, power, and privilege.
Check out the @youva.safe on instagram for a list of resources that can help keep you
up-to-date with opportunities to engage and connect on-line and around grounds.
This year, the Memorial for Enslaved Laborers officially opened across from Bodos on the
corner, or the other side of Brooks Hall.
Completion of the Memorial is the culmination of years of work, including student activism.
Thanks to the many groups of students, faculty, and staff who pushed to make this long-overdue
recognition a reality.
Let’s hear more from an amazing individual, alumna Jess Harris.
In order for us to continue to move forward in striving for equity and striving for change,
we have to be able to talk about our past, in a way that's really meaningful.
And the Memorial I think is a beautiful first step
in starting that conversation.
It's intended to be a space for reflection and healing,
it's a space of truth-telling.
We want folks to bring classes here, we want folks to engage in that way.
Slavery wasn't an experience that by any means should just be something in our past that
we say happened and we can't talk about it.
We should help folks heal past that trauma and past the brutality of it.
The first thing design wise that greets you when you come in the Memorial is this broken
shackle image.
It represents this freedom from physical bondage.
There's the path towards the North Star and that was the path towards freedom.
And then a second path that kind of aligns with the sunset on March 3, which is Liberation
and Freedom Day.
It is 80 feet which matches the diameter of the Rotunda
taking up that space that is so rightly deserved in honoring this legacy.
There is the timeline of events that happened all the way through
Isabella Gibbons death.
Isabella Gibbons was a member of the enslaved community and she
really took it upon herself to encourage reflection and encourage moving the needle towards equity
and equality and so her eyes are on the back of the Memorial.
I would encourage everyone if they can, come witness it in person, feel the stone, see
the timeline, be here and be present and take a second to reflect, honor,
and encourage folks to move forward with that history.
Hit the @YOUva team on instagram or email us at youva@virginia.edu.This has been Zeno
and I'm out like a light.
We come from old Virginia where all is bright and gay.
Let’s all join hands and give a yell for dear old UVA.
For dear old UVA.