Chancellor Gene Block updates the UCLA community
To the Campus Community:
As you may have seen, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health announced this morning that there are additional confirmed cases of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) in Los Angeles County. Given this news, I wanted to provide continued updates knowing this may cause anxiety among our Bruin community.
First, there are no confirmed cases of COVID-19 at UCLA at this time.
Second, we are working quickly to expand the use of existing remote teaching and learning tools available, by reaching out to faculty to offer technology support. These tools will include the ability to stream lectures via Zoom or BruinCast, create collaborative online spaces via Slack or UCLA Common Collaboration and Learning Environment (CCLE) and provide opportunities for remote test taking, if needed. There will be a separate message to faculty with more details.
Also, we will begin to offer in-person informational meetings, starting today. Understanding that there is a lot of news and misinformation regarding COVID-19, we will host community meetings during which attendees can hear the facts about COVID-19 from medical experts, understand UCLA’s procedures for handling different scenarios and have an open forum to ask questions. We will hold these in-person informational meetings at various locations on campus, including on the Hill. Information concerning these meetings will be listed on the COVID-19 information page on UCLA Newsroom. For departments interested in coordinating a small group meeting, please contact UCLA Campus Human Resources at 310-794-0860.
And lastly, as I shared in my message earlier this week, the best steps you can take to prevent the spread of COVID-19 include washing your hands frequently, containing coughs into a tissue or sleeve and staying home if you are sick, especially if you have a respiratory illness and fever. If you develop flu-like symptoms — fever, cough and difficulty breathing — and are concerned that you may have been exposed to COVID-19, seek medical attention. Students should call the Ashe Center Infection Control Line at 310-206-6217 and faculty and staff should call their health care providers. Please always call ahead before arriving. As always, emergency preparedness information can be found at Bruins Safe Online.
We will continue to communicate regularly on this important topic. I know concerns may be high, and please know that the health and safety of our Bruin community is our top priority. I thank you for taking care of yourselves and each other.
Sincerely,
Gene D. Block
Chancellor
