LOS ANGELES (KNX) — College students enrolled in at least five of 10 University of California schools will return to class remotely at the start of 2022, according to messages from university staff.
The announcements affect the UC system’s Riverside, San Diego, Irvine, Santa Cruz and Davis campuses.
“We continue to believe that our primary focus must be the health and wellbeing of our campus,” UC Davis Chancellor Gary May said in a letter sent Tuesday.
“We will open winter quarter remotely from Jan. 3 through Jan. 7, allowing enough time for members of our community to secure a negative COVID-19 test before attending classes or coming to work in person on Jan. 10.”
The UC system as a whole announced it agrees those traveling over winter break should return in time to test before returning to class, in order to prevent any potential virus spread.
“Testing our entire community within just one week will put a strain on our operations, so please do not wait until Jan. 6 or 7 to schedule your test,” May continued. “We need to work together to get this done quickly in order to keep our campus healthy.”
Early Tuesday, UC President Michael V. Drake sent a letter to all chancellors announcing that, under existing UC policy, the college system is able to mandate COVID booster shots for all staff, faculty and students on UC campuses.
“The evidence is clear that receiving a booster is essential to protecting yourself and those around you from Omicron and other variants,” Drake said. “Under existing UC policy, students, faculty, and staff are required to keep their vaccination status up to date. The policy mandates COVID-19 boosters for those who are eligible.”
As of 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, the university system’s L.A., San Francisco and Santa Barbara campuses had not announced any remote learning updates. UCLA in an update on its website said any potential updates to the January 2022 schedule would be announced no later than this week, according to the Sacramento Bee.
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