Since the start of the pandemic, UCI Public Health has spearheaded several projects to promote community health, address COVID-19 disparities, and reduce the burden of disease.
COVID-19 Contact Tracing
Early on in the pandemic, UCI Public Health launch a health equity bilingual contact tracing workshop for Orange County Health Care Agency staff, UCI students and community members. The remote training sessions helped meet the growing need for contact tracers to investigate how COVID-19 is transmitted and has helped control the spread of COVID-19 on campus and in the community. The program continues to operate in partnership with OCHCA to provide contact tracing services on campus under the authority of the local health department.
COVID-19 Chatline
UCI COVID-19 Chatline was created to provide fact-based guidance for individuals with general questions about the virus. Staffed by undergraduate volunteers and supervised by UCI Public Health faculty and doctoral students, the chatline allows individuals to communicate online and in real time with trained public health students and get links to relevant internet sources.
Strength in Numbers
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1,000+
Chats
Over the course of the program
11
Countries
Origin where the Chatline calls are coming from
13,000
contacts traced
and contacted to minimize spread
COVID-19 Research & Response
Antibody screening finds COVID-19 nearly 7 times more prevalent in O.C. than thought
In partnership with Orange County Health Care Agency, UCI Public Health, conducted a large-scale, population-based study to better understand the true prevalence of the virus in the county. The sample of approximately 3,000 O.C. residents showed that the prevalence of the virus was seven-fold greater than previously estimated and that the virus disproportionately affects Hispanic and low-income adults.
New UCI service is staffed by trained undergraduates in public health
The UCI COVID-19 Chatline was created to provide fact-based guidance for individuals with general questions about the virus. Staffed by undergraduate volunteers and supervised by UCI Public Health faculty and doctoral students, the chatline allows individuals to communicate online and in real time with trained public health students and get links to relevant internet sources.
Training emphasized cultural sensitivity, health equity issues
UCI Public Health partnered with the Orange County Health Care Agency and the Orange County Health Equity COVID-19 Community-Academic Partnership to offer a Health Equity Contact Tracing Workshop. The workshop trained roughly 700 public health practitioners, students, community leaders, and residents to perform COVID-19 contact tracing with a fundamental focus on health equity.
In a large-scale, population-based surveillance study conducted in partnership with the City of Santa Ana and as part of their CARES COVID-19 response efforts, researchers found 28% positivity of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among adults with disparities in previous infection across racial/ethnic groups. The study – the first of its size and scale in California to include a pediatric population – also revealed 26% positivity among children ages 5 and older.
Promoting Equitable, State-wide Vaccine Distribution
UCI Public Health faculty were appointed to several regional task forces to provide guidance and expertise on best practices for equitable statewide vaccine distribution, including the OCHCA COVID-19 Vaccine Pediatric Task Force and the OCHCA COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force to establish a plan for an equitable COVID-19 vaccine roll-out across the county.
Researchers at UCI Public Health and the UCI School of Medicine received a $700,000 subcontract award from the City of Santa Ana to address inequities and gaps in health services, and enhance COVID-19 testing and other mitigation measures in racial and ethnic minority populations and other socially vulnerable populations with a focus on public health literacy.
Community Knowledge Share
Early Campus Response
A valuable campus partner to spreading public health information on the UCI Campus throughout the pandemic, including a handwashing campaign among several other initiatives.
